With a Little Help from Myself
by TeenTitansG0
Summary: Voldemort created an eighth horcrux before that fateful battle, ending their hopes of winning. Hermione concocts a plan to send a muggle OC  back in time to change the past. Can Aston succeed?
1. Chapter 1  Timer Turner Turning Time?

**With a Little Help from Myself**

**Chapter 1 - Timer Turner Turning Time?**

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**DISCLAIMER: If you really thought I owned any of these, except maybe Aston, then you need to reread the website title.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story will fall pretty close to canon, besides the prologue of course, but later on the butterfly effect will cause things to be very different. So if you don't care to see everything change, this is not the story for you. Also, this is a HarryxHermione story. To me, it always made more sense, so if that is not your cup of tea, please don't insult the story, for that reason, or just leave now. Finally, I do not live in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, so my grasp of British phrases is most probably not complete. If you are from that area and see I've used an American phrase, please correct me in a review or private message. I will do my best to correct all mistakes. Without further adieu, here we go.**

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><p>"<em>Expecto Patronum!<em>"

"_Serpensortia!_"

Aston had rolled off the table as soon as the dementors had flown into the room. He knew that they didn't have much time, but the ritual wasn't complete yet. They were all dead men, as it was. Harry was gone, and Voldemort had won. They knew there was not chance of winning, anymore. The Order of the Phoenix had gathered together and was performing their last defense. Muggle bobbies and soldiers joined them in a last ditch effort to stop the Dark Lord.

The place of this last stand was not Hogwarts, as that had fallen the day Voldemort slain Harry. No, this was a simply muggle police station in the middle of an out-of-the-way place. It didn't provide the greatest protection, but, at this point, anonymity was their greatest ally. Here, is where the last of the Order had been preparing their final operation. At this point, damaging the universe was a verifiable risk. Either way, it wouldn't matter much if Voldemort was allowed to rule.

The place had come under attack an hour earlier, but the defenders had managed to hold them off in the hopes of letting the leaders finish their only chance. The muggles and wizards had held their own, but the sheer numbers massed against them ensured their eventual defeat.

Aston crawled over to where Hermione had dove out of the way. "Hermione, we don't have time to finish, send me back, now!" he yelled grabbing her arm.

She looked at him, wide-eyed. "They're here" she said. Muttering, she cast a spell on the time-turner in Aston's hands. Aston was about to grab Hermione and release the wind on the time-turner when an explosion blew them apart. He was blown into the wall, causing him to lose his grip and release the wind on the device. The last thing Aston saw before the time-turner took him back was Hermione being _crucio'd_.

Now, to be perfectly clear, Aston was not used to time traveling, especially when it was set to take him back nearly a decade. Aston watched as the surreal scene passed him by. It was as if every memory he had gained during the time he was going to and the time he was from simply rewound. The screaming, the murder, the good times, and the bad all passed by him. He watched the events that had lead up to his current situation, in reverse. He watched as Ron died getting the him and the others to safety. He watched as Voldemort stormed Buckingham Palace. He watched as the entire world had fallen apart.

He watched himself travel through Europe on planes, boats, and by car. He watched shootouts and backroom dealings. With a lurch he felt as if he was slowing down. It was then that he saw a much younger version of himself driving through London.

Suddenly, with a sort of pop, he was back in London. The sky was blue and upon turning around he saw a mother walking outside of the house, on whose lawn he was standing. Aston began to ran, tears streaking down his face. It'd do him no good to cry about seeing his mother alive again. He would have to hide his tears when he saw everyone that had died.

He ran to the Leaky Cauldron, which was on the other side of town. He needed to get to Gringotts, and quickly. If their calculations were correct, he had arrived the day before Harry's eleventh birthday. He was huffing and puffing by time he arrived at the tavern. He walked through to the back, garnering a fair share of stares from the patrons, as it was unusual for a muggle to see the place, much less go in. He walked over to the trash can and counted, exactly as Hermione had told him, three up two across.

Aston watched as the arch formed out of the wall in the little yard behind the bar. Running down the alley, avoiding shoppers and such, he made his way into Gringotts. Walking across the lobby he went up to the closest free goblin and said, "I need 30 galleon's worth of muggle pounds from Mr. Potter's vault." He said laying down the key and the note Hermione, along with the help of Griphook, had forged.

The goblin, showing a distinct lack of interest, looked over the note and decided it was genuine enough. Collecting said pounds, he grumbled, as most goblins do when working. Aston rushed out of Gringotts and ran back out of Diagon alley. He caught a bus and rode over to number 4 Privet Drive. It took several hours to get there. He was let off at a corner about a block away. He began walking at a leisurely pace towards the street. It was early evening, and he could see families sitting down to eat. He arrived at Privet Drive and took a look down the street. All the lawns were mowed and the houses were nice and respectable. Aston walked down the street counting the numbers down, "Number 6, Number 5, and, finally, Number 4." With a slight scowl, he looked up to the door of Number 4 Privet Drive.

Hermione had told him of the atrocities committed under this roof. He did not like it in the least. He had a job to do, though. He looked over himself and brushed off the debris and dust that covered him. If it was indeed Mr. Dursely that opened that door, he did not want to arouse suspicion. Checking himself over once more, he walked up to the door and pushed the doorbell.

He heard Vernon yell and cringed. He may not have liked the Durselys, but it was reassuring, and disturbing, to hear the voice of someone who he knew died. The door opened and he saw a scrawny boy with wire glasses, jet black hair, and the scar shaped like a lightening bolt. "Ah, Harry. It is good to see you." Harry, not knowing who this man is, was about to say something when Aston, looking in the door, yelled, "Mr. Dursely, may I come in? I need to speak to your nephew about some changes in the curricular this year.

Walking to the door, the portly man began to speak, obviously annoyed at the interruption at dinner time. "What sort of changes? And besides that, couldn't it have waited?"

"Actually, no. I'm afraid it's quite urgent. It will only take me a couple of minutes. Just so that I don't interrupt your dinner, I'll sit and talk with Harry in his room."

Thinking that it would be no good at all to let a teacher see that Harry was living in the cupboard under the stairs, Vernon tried to smooth it over, "No, no, no. I would think you'd prefer to speak in the living room."

Realizing that his plan had worked, he allowed for Mr. Dursely to lead him in. Sitting down on the couch, he said to Vernon, "You go on back to dinner; I just need to speak with Harry." Not wanting to give Harry the chance to say anything was overcome by his want for his dinner, and so Vernon went and sat down, keeping an ear on their conversation.

Aston looked to a still confused Harry and said, "I'm glad to see the Durseley's haven't starved you too badly. Now, Harry, I do believe that tomorrow is your eleventh birthday. Anyways, I personally would like to give you a gift for such a momentous occasion." At that, he pulled out a letter and handed it to Harry.

"Sir, how did you know?" was all Harry had a chance to blab out before he was interrupted by Aston.

"Vernon, I'd like to inform you that I'm going for a drive with Harry, here. I hope that you don't have any objections." Aston said, waiting until they were in the car to explain.

Vernon, not knowing this man, stood up and walked into the doorway between the living room and the exit. "Actually, sir, I do have an objection to that. For one I don't even know your name.

"Well, Vernon, I am Aston, a friend of Harry's. I need to show him some things, and I believe that" pulling out the wand Hermione had given him, "this should change your mind." Vernon's mix of anger, distress, and surprise gave Aston enough time to grab Harry and bolt out the door.

Realizing that his worst nightmare had just come true, Mr. Dursely went running out the door after him until he realized that the demon was driving away in his car! Seething with rage, the portly man yelled, "Fuck you, freaks!" He threw his shoe his beloved car, even though it was too late to do anything.

Harry was utterly flabbergasted at what had just happened. His uncle had freaked out about the man pulling out a stick. A million questions running through his head, Harry asked the most obvious one, "Where are going?"

Aston, speeding out of Little Whinging, began to speak, occasionally looking at Harry. "We're going to a place called the Burrow. Now, open the letter. All will be explained."

Harry looked to the envelop in his hands. He turned the rough paper over in his hands and saw a glob of wax on the flap. He pealed it off and pulled out what seemed to be a piece of parchment. He opened up the sheets and began reading.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_It is with great honour that I formally invite you to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is not a standard invitation, and, due to the circumstances, I will not remember you ever receiving anything other than the standard invitation. It is because of who you are that such precautions are being taken. Please note that great lengths are being taken to ensure your safety and we ask that you not disregard them._

_-Deputy Headmistress McGonagall _

Harry looked over to the man in the driver seat and was about to ask if he was insane when he interrupted, "Harry, I know the story that the Durselys told you. They told you your parents died in a car crash and that you got that scar because of it. To make a long story short, they were lying to you. I know I must sound crazy, but your parents were magical. You father was a wizard and yer mum a witch. What really happened is that they died fighting a dark wizard. That dark wizard had attacked you and they gave their lives to stop him. I know this sounds strange, I know you have questions, and I know that I must look like a loon, but we're going somewhere where I can explain everything. All I ask is that you let me concentrate on where we're going."

Harry thought for a while, watching the scenery pass by. He was either with a loon or everything the Durselys had ever told him was a lie. He wanted to believe this man was crazy, but he didn't trust the Durselys either. Deciding that he really didn't have any control on the matter, anyways, he relaxed.

It was a couple of hours later, the sun just setting, as they rode up to a building that looked like it would fall over at any moment. Aston decided that it was time to let Harry know a little more. "Harry, I understand this is all new and strange, but I'll explain once we're inside that building. Now come on." They got out of the auto and began walking up to the door of the building. Aston held on to Harry's shoulder as they walked up, he didn't need Harry running off. He rapped on the door and heard commotion on the other side. Eventually, someone came up and opened the door.

"Um, may I help you?" a plump, red-headed woman said, looking at both Aston and Harry.

"Yes, Molly, you can help us. You see, I'm a muggle," Molly looked taken aback that a muggle even knew that term. "and this is the ever so famous Harry Potter." He finished, brushing the hair from the scar.

Mrs. Weasley's breath was taken away. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. What could she say? A muggle, who obviously knew about magic, had just walked up to her front door with the most famous wizard of all time. "C-come in." she said, waving them in.

"Mrs. Weasley, I'd like to speak to you and Arthur alone, if I may. It has a lot to do with you-know-who." Aston said, quietly to her. At this Molly's face went pale. She went back into the dining room and shooed the children up the stairs. Five minutes later, Aston, Harry, Molly, and Arthrur were sitting in the dining room.

Aston began to speak to the group. "Molly, Arthur, I know that it looks strange for someone to bring Harry Potter to your front door, a muggle no less, but please let me explain. You-know-who has returned. At this point there is little to fear, but I need to speak with Dumbledore, immediately. I know that he keeps in contact with those who were in the Order, and I know that you two can contact him. Also, where's Scabbers? Ron's room, I assume. We must put an unbreakable and unopenable charm on that rat's cage, now."

At the looks as to why they should trap Scabbers in his cage, Aston continued, "Scabbers has lived an unusually long time for a rat, hasn't he. He is also missing a finger. He also just so happened to come into your possession after the disappearance of another rat we know of. I do believe that both of you are starting to realize, but just in case your not, that rat, Scabbers, is Peter Petigrew."

The Weasley's looked sceptical. How did this muggle know who Peter Petigrew was? More importantly, how did he know about the magical world? Molly decided to voice these concerns. "Mr.?"

"Mr. Kenny" he supplied.

"Mr. Kenny, just how do you know about the magical world? And on what proof am I to believe anything you've said?"

He thought for a moment and then said, "I know about the Order of the Phoenix, for one. I know that Sirius Black was far too obvious a choice for secret keeper so they made Peter Petigrew their keeper. There's your proof. Now, as to how I know about the magical world, that, I'm afraid, is classified. Now, are you going to secure that rat or leave him to escape? It'd be a tragedy for Sirius to suffer because of that vermin."

Molly and Arthur exchanged a look. His facts lined up, and if it was Peter, they'd be wretched fools to not trap him. Deciding better safe than sorry, they made their way up the stairs.

Harry simply asked, "What is going on?" It was all very confusing, just this morning he thought everything was going to go as it usually did, but then all of this happened.

Aston looked over to Harry and said, "Harry, you're much too young to know everything that's going on. I'll tell you later. For now, however, I'd like to introduce you to the Weasley family." Taking Harry's hand they walked upstairs. He began calling the children out of their rooms. "Percy, George, Fred, Ron, & you come out too, Ginny! I have someone I wish for you all to meet!"

With some milling about, the children came out of their rooms, "Everyone to the living room!" After a couple minutes of moving, everyone, minus Arthur and Molly, was downstairs and sitting in the living room. "Now, you five don't know me, but I know each one of you. In fact, Ginny, was Percy just reading you the stories of the boy-who-lived?" Her face turning red, she nodded. With a slight grin at her nervousness, Aston continued, "Well, I don't know the whole story, but I do know that I'm about to make your day. Everyone, I present to you," brushing the hair from Harry's forehead,

"Harry Potter!" they all said/yelled in unison.

"Very good. Now," looking to Ron, "Ron, it's your lucky day. Scabbers is going away, and now I do believe that Harry will be sleeping in your room tonight." Turning to the next child, he continued, "Ginny, you can stop blushing, Harry doesn't even know what's going on. You see, he knows nothing about the magical world." Turning to Percy, "Percy, I'm going to take Harry to get his wand at Olivander's tomorrow. I was hoping that you could help me with the practical lessons. You don't have to worry about the underage restrictions either, pureblood families are exempt. So, to prove that we're not all crazy, please show him _leviosa_."

Percy, stumbling to get out his wand, was able to get a cup on the table to float. Harry was at a loss of words. "Wands? Spells? I couldn't possibly be a wizard, I'm just Harry." He said looking around at the group in front of him.

"Harry, I understand your confusion, but trust me. I know this must seem strange. Just hang on, that's why I brought you here, to get you away from those blasted Durselys. Percy here will help you. In fact, I need to be somewhere. Ron, would you please take Harry up to your room? I'm off to pick up the third part of your trio." With that, Aston stood up and walked out the door to Vernon's car and started off back to London.

Harry was left confused, in a strange house, with strange people, by someone who kidnapped him. Suffice to say, that was not how he had planned his day to go. He had expected to get up, cook breakfast for the Durselys, clean the house, take care of the lawn and garden, cook lunch, clean the house again, and then cook dinner. He would have never guessed that, he would be whisked away by a loon claiming to be a… muggle? The weirdness didn't even stop there; he was then taken to a house that looked like it would fall over at any moment. The people there were all very strange, and claimed to be magical.

This had been one day he wouldn't forget. Especially since he was enjoying it so much! Currently, each of the Weasley children was shaking his hand and saying hello. After having shaken all their hands, he realized that he had no clue as to what he should say. "Uh, nice to meet you all." is all he could say before Molly Weasley entered the room.

"Kids, where did Mr. Kenny go?" she said, quite obviously annoyed with him. Not only had he interrupted dinner, but he had acted like he was running the show. From her experience, only Deatheaters had that sort of arrogance.

"He said he was going to go pick up the third part of a trio." Fred started .

"I didn't quite understand what he meant, though. You Fred?" George replied.

"He sounded like a loon, talking about magic and such." Fred said, messing with Harry's head.

"I mean really. Who would ever think that magic exists?"

"It's ridiculous!" Fred finished.

Harry, at a loss for words just started stuttering. "But he. Wand? Floating cup. Oh bother." He said, hanging his head in defeat.

Molly, realizing what the twins were doing, went over and smacked them upside the head. "Shame on you two. Look at the poor boy, you two have gone and confused him beyond belief." She went over to Harry and said, "Don't worry, dear. They're just joking around." Realizing how thin the boy in front of her was, she exclaimed, "My word, were they even feeding you?"

Surprised that anyone even cared how much he had eaten, he stammered, "I, uh, am not that hungry." He started moving away, unsure of what to do.

"Nonsense! Look at you, you thin as a twig!" Molly cried. Realizing there wasn't much he could do, seeing as there were 7 of them and only 1 of him, Harry let himself be dragged to the dining room. Molly went off to get a plate for Harry, while Ron began to talk.

"So this is the great Harry Potter? To tell you the truth, I thought that the first time I'd see you there'd be fireworks and the such as you arrived at Hogwarts." Ron said, chowing down on some chicken.

"Really? I imagined all the students cheering," began George

"Along with doves flying from behind him," continued Fred

"And Dumbledore finally firing Snape,"

"Along with all the girls running up to him,"

"Trying to be his girlfriend," said George, Harry turning a bright pink.

"Especially Ginny." sniggered Fred.

As Ginny's face went a bright crimson to match Harry's, Percy reprimanded Fred. At this Molly came in with a plate filled to the brim with sausage, bread, and mashed potatoes. Harry bid her a thank you and began eating.

Deciding that he finally wanted some answers, he said to the room in general, "I have some questions, if I may ask them. First of all, what's a muggle? I've heard people say it all day, but don't know what it means." Molly and Arthur realized they were in for a very long discussion.

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><p>In London, Aston was pulling up to another of the many brick houses. It was pretty late in the evening, around 8:00 o' clock, but he had to speak with them. Aston got out of the car and walked up to the front door. He saw lights inside, and so decided now was as good a time as any. He rang the doorbell and waited, until a woman with brown hair came up. "Hello Mrs. Granger. I do hope that Hermione received her letter."<p>

Not quite understanding what he meant, Mrs. Granger replied, slightly creeped out by the man in front of her, "I'm not sure what letter you mean."

"Mrs. Granger, I am talking about the letter she received on her eleventh birthday. What I have to say about that is of a private nature. I'd prefer to talk about it inside." He said, making sure she got the point this time.

Realizing what he was talking about, Mrs. Granger let him inside saying, "Um, Hermione is asleep, but my husband and I would be willing to speak with you." Aston noticed that she was nervous.

As they sat down in the living room, Aston began speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger, I am sorry to inform you that your daughter must leave prematurely. You see, some of the more… caring people in the school administration have looked over her grades in normal schooling and decided that early study wouldn't be too much of a problem. She would go straight from this early schooling to Hogwarts. She won't be returning until Christmas break. I promise you that she will be safe. I am taking her to purchase her wizarding equipment, if you have not already, and then to take her to the home of the other people involved in this early studying. "

"I have a question," Mr. Granger began, cautious, "Why we're you sent and not that Mrs. McGonagall?"

"Professor McGonagall is very busy and sent me in her stead. I hope that this is not too much of an inconvenience. Also, I must ask if I could stay the night? I myself am not magical and I do not think it would be prudent to drive Hermione there at such a late hour."

"What time do you think you'll be leaving tomorrow?" asked Mrs. Granger, a bit suspicious.

"We'll considering that it's a bit of a drive, I'd prefer to leave relatively early; around 9:00, perhaps?" he questioned.

"That should be fine, Hermione gets up early. What will she need?" Mr. Granger asked.

"She'll need clothes, her toothbrush, a thing of toothpaste, and her diary. I do believe that should be it." Aston answered.

"How did you know she has a diary?" Mr. Granger asked, suspicious.

"Mr. Granger, most girls her age have diaries. I simply assumed." He responded.

Mr. Granger had always been cautious, and a decent judge of character, and he didn't see anything in this man that would leave him to believe he had any intention of harming them. "I may not be comfortable with this, but, my wife is willing to trust you, so I guess I will too. I will make it perfectly clear, though, Mr. Kenny, you stay on this floor. The restroom is down the hall on the right side of the stairs." Looking at the clock, he continued, "I see it is 9:37. So I bid you goodnight, Mr. Kenny."

After a few goodnights (and a cold glare from Mr. Granger), Aston was left to sleep on the couch. He lay there, wondering how Harry's night had gone at the Weasley household. Thinking about the events of the next day, Aston fell asleep.

At the Burrow, dinner had been over with for a while, and Harry was just enjoying the excitement of the household. Fred and George had been making jokes while everyone laughed. Ginny was sneaking glances at him, only to be caught and have her face turn red. Molly would notice this sometimes and would smile gingerly. Arthur was more interested in Harry's life amongst muggles. Even after they were done eating, the Weasleys and Harry continued to talk about anything and everything. Ron and the twins even started to explain a wizard sport called Quidditch to him, until Molly realized how late it was and shooed everyone off to bed. Harry, as Aston predicted, was stuck in Ron's room. Ron and Harry stayed up for a little while longer talking, until finally, at 9:30, they fell asleep.

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><p>The next morning Aston woke up at 7:30. After a quick trip to the restroom, Aston went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for himself; almost immediately after, a little girl with brown bushy hair came down the stairs. Bewildered at who could be in her house, she simply asked "Who are you?" The girl was twiddling her thumbs on the hem of her nightgown. It wasn't often her parents had guest and rarely so early in the morning.<p>

Anticipating this moment since he fell asleep last night, Aston looked to the girl walking down the stairs. The girl walking down the steps sorely reminded Aston of the girl he had known in the future, making his heart hurt. Hey may not have had her affections, but it still hurt to see the girl he had worked with for so long be alive and well. Tears were falling down his cheeks as he said, "Good morning, Hermione. My name's Aston. I'm from the magical world. I trust you had a good night sleep?"

This man was nice enough, but she was slightly perturbed by the fact he started crying at the sight of her. She was also excited to finally meet someone from the magical world. The person who had helped buy her magical supplies last year had hurried off, claiming she had other people she had to help as soon as she had her robes, and books. It would be nice to speak more in depth about the magical world. "Yes, thank you, Aston, is it? When did you get here?"

"I arrived after you fell asleep last night. I have come to take you somewhere. You see, I am privy to some very important knowledge. It has been decided by some very important people that you are to learn a bit of magic, prematurely. We believe that it would be in the best interest of everyone if you and the other 2 were ahead of the others in your class. So I've come to take you to some early training."

"Wonderful! I can't wait to practice some of these spells I've read about!" Hermione cried, sitting down. "Mr. Aston, where's your wand?" Hermione said questioningly.

A bit thrown off by the question, Aston answered, "Well actually I don't have one. I'm like your parents, a non-magical person." Holding up his hand, "I'll save you the trouble of asking. Let's just say I'm a very lucky person. So would you like to know more about the others involved in this early studying?" he said with a tone of finality, ending any questions she had about him being a muggle.

"Well it would be better to know a bit about them before I meet them, I suppose."

"Well, the main person in this study group is Harry Potter. The other person is Ron Weasley. I'll tell you more about them on the drive to where we're going. For now, eat, then go pack." He said, giving her a look that had always made her future self laugh.

Within the period of 30 minutes, Hermione had eaten, Mr. and Mrs. Granger had come downstairs, Aston had given them some money for what he had eaten, and Hermione was packed. Since it was still only about 8:30, Aston asked, "Hermione, you won't be returning until Christmas break. So if there is anything you want to do with your parents, you have until 9:00."

With a nod of understanding, Hermione just sat and talked with her parents for a little while. Deciding that she was ready, she informed Aston and they left. As they were driving, on their way to the Burrow, Aston began to tell her more about her partners. "Since I said I'd tell you more, so I might as well. For starters, they're both younger than you by about a year. Harry Potter has black hair, round glasses, a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, and is a bit scrawny. You'll find him to be studious, smart, brave, humble, and loyal. Though, you'll find he's a bit of a sportshead, but don't mistake that for him being a masculine type of person. I'll explain that to you later.

The other person in this Golden trio is Ron Weasley. He's got flaming red hair, just like his family (You'll be meeting them.) and is a bit on the tall side. He really is a masculine sportshead, but he is quite funny. You'll find that he can lighten even the most dramatic of situations and is quick to anger or jealousy. Other than that, he's loyal, brave, very strategically minded (He's very good at chess), and a bit of a dunderhead. He's not stupid, though, just more brawns than brains. Any questions?" he finished.

"Are they both magical?" she asked.

"Yes. In fact, Harry has the potential to become one of the most powerful wizard in existence. He just needs to learn how to use his power. You see, wizards have a supply of magic that they cast spells from. Then they have their control over it. You, for example, may not have the largest supply, but your control makes it to where you can utilize every ounce of it. Harry has a very large supply, but due to the way he was raised, his control isn't near as developed as yours. Ron has adequate control, but he's only above the average wizard in his supply.

Wizards and witches can learn to develop more control over their magic, but you are born with a certain access to magic, your supply. So once you master control, you've hit your peak. Enough of that lesson for now, any more questions?"

"You said something about training, what are we going to be doing?"

"Well, first I'm going to take you three to Diagon Alley to purchase your wizarding supplies. Though, as you already have yours, I was thinking about leaving you with the Weasleys. It'd let you get to know them. We'll be staying there until school starts. Anything else?" he asked.

"What are the Weasleys like?" she asked.

"Well, you'll find the lot of them to be quite varied. There are seven of them. I've already told you about Ron the youngest son. I'll start from youngest then go up. Ginny is their youngest child, and only daughter. Then there's Ron. Next up is the twins, Fred and George. They are pranksters, but righteous ones, if nothing else. They prank everyone, but if you're a 'bad' person in their eyes, they'll prank you till you cry. The last child, Percy, is what you'd expect. He is always trying to keep order in the madhouse, and is a studious type of person. Molly Weasley is the mother and you'll find her to be quite nice. Though, assume she'll be mad at me. Let's just say I haven't been the best guest. Lastly we have Arthur, Molly's husband. He'll be delighted to know you're a muggle-born, meaning you have non-magical parents. He's in charge of part of the wizard government. He's the one who gets called if non-magical people discover magic. It's his job to make sure that it gets covered up and erases memories. Anyways, he's very interested in everything non-magical. It's actually quite funny. He doesn't understand how a telephone works, at all. I think he'll just love to meet you."

"So when will we be learning spells and such?" she asked excitedly.

"I knew you'd ask that, eventually. You will start either this afternoon or tomorrow. It'll be some basic stuff that you probably already know from those books you bought."

Surprised that he knew she had bought books, she asked, "How did you know I had bought books?"

"Hermione, I know quite a bit about you three. It was my job to find you three and find out if you were the right type of students for the early training. Which makes me ask that you tone down the book smart know-it-all. Harry and Ron will find it quite annoying.

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><p>It was about two hours later when they finally arrived at the Burrow. Aston, being the arrogant prick he is, just walked in with Hermione, dismissing her insistence that they knock. "Good day Weasleys. I trust you've all had a good breakfast, made by the lovely Molly Weasley?" He said strutting into the dining room, Hermione hurrying after him. "Ah!" he began again, with exaggerated awe, "I present to you, the amazing Miss Hermione Granger. Hermione, I present to you, the dashing Mr. Harry Potter, the Quidditch-loving Ron, the prank loving twins Fred and George, the boy-who-lived obsessed Ginny, the uptight and studious Percy ("I am not uptight!"), the muggle obsessed Arthur Weasley ("I'm not obsessed" "Yes you are!"), and finally the motherly and talented Molly Weasley."<p>

Molly just walked over and slapped him across the face, hard. "First you come in unannounced with Harry Potter, and now you bring another child, no doubt kidnapped as well! Oh yes, Harry told us exactly how you got him away from the Durselys. I want you out of here, and I'll be taking them home. I don't know how you know about magic or about the Order, but I think that you don't need to know it anymore!" Within the blink of an eye, Molly had her wand out and was saying, "Obli—" Before she even got the chance to finish, Aston had sped forward, kicked her wrist, and caught the wand.

Molly rubbed her wrist as he began, "Molly, I have information that is vital to the survival of magic and the defeat of Voldemort." Everyone except Harry and Hermione gasped. "I will speak to Dumbledore, now. I want this cleared up before we have anymore unpleasantries." Aston finished, handing the wand to a stunned Molly. "I'll be using your chimney. I'll be back in a while. Please feed Miss Granger. When I get back, I will gladly take them to Diagon Alley to purchase their wizarding supplies. I will be paying for it all, and no, I will not accept any money from you Mrs. Weasley. See you all later." At that, Aston walked into the living room. Taking some floo powder, he said, "Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office, Lemon Drop!" He then disappeared into the green flames.

Confused at everything she had just heard, Hermione asked in quick succession, "What do you mean kidnapped? What's going on? What's the Order? Who's Voldemort? Who's Dumbledore? What's –"

"Hermione, please slow down. I guess we'll have to explain to you now, too. Assuming that he's not totally deranged and brought you here for a legitimate reason, I'm going to ask that everyone leave except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione; that includes you Percy." With a harrumph from Percy, the twins and he left, along with Ginny. Hermione cautiously took a seat and looked at Molly, who was just starting to speak again. "Hermione, please tell me what Aston has told you so far." She said with a sigh.

"Well, he said that we, which I'm guessing means Harry, Ron, and I, are involved in a pre-Hogwarts study group. He described everyone here. He also said that we'd be going to get wizarding supplies at Diagon Alley. Finally, he said we would practice some magic here…." She said, noticing Molly's face turn from surprise to anger.

"Molly, why don't you go get us some drinks. We are in for a very long conversation." Arthur suggested.

Green flames erupted in the fireplace in Albus' Dumbledore's office. Surprised by the unannounced visit, Dumbledore looked over to see a stranger coming through his floo. In a moment he was on his feet, wielding his wand. "Who are you?" He spoke in a calm but firm voice.

Bowing, Aston began, "What a pleasure to finally meet the revered Albus Dumbledore. I trust Arthur sent the message saying I would be coming?" he said, revealing the symbol of the Deathly Hallows on his forearm.

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really don't have much to say except that I hope I get some reviews, etc. Besides that, don't worry. He's not going after the horcruxes or anything. I just realized that the Order has no sort of symbol or identification mark. Dumbledore did however use the mark between himself and some others studying the whereabouts of the Hallows. I figured it work as identification. I'll try to post chapters on a weekly basis, on Fridays. I'll also try to make them longer, as I go. I always felt that chapters should be around 5k or so. Until the next chapter, au revoir!<strong>

**Written: Chap 1 – Friday the 30th, September of 2011**

**Chap 2 – Friday the 7th, October of 2011**

**Combined and Revised – Saturday the 31st, December of 2011**


	2. Chapter 2 A Lesson in Magic

**With a Little Help from Myself**

**Chapter 2 – Lessons in Magic**

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**DISCLAIMER: If you think I could possibly own this, reread the site title.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just wanted to thank everyone who has added this story to their alert list. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. Without further adieu, here we go. I would also like to give a special thanks to my friend who has agreed to Beta this for me. For privacy reasons, I'm going to refer to him as Mr. Ravenclaw.**

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><p>"You see, Albus," Aston began after they had sat down. "After Voldemort got rid of you, Harry was easy pickings; even with coming back from the dead. After he was taken out, the Order thought all was lost. Hermione Granger had a brilliant plan, however. She decided to send me, a muggle, back in time using a time turner. This would allow someone with knowledge of what to change to come back, without having to muck around with the space time continuum and all that. Seeing as I am a muggle, my present self, will never see Hogwarts or me. I quite literally exist outside the timeline."<p>

"You have yet to explain your presence in my office, yet, Mr. Kenny." Dumbledore replied, glancing at Aston.

"Slow down, I was just getting to that. Jeez. The reason I came to you is that I needed to ask if there was a way for me to get in and out of the castle other than using your fireplace. As I've noticed, you've taken the wards off of your office. I'd prefer to be able to help Harry without being trapped in your office. I thought that you, being the headmaster, would be able to make an exception in the wards or something. In fact, I have a proposition for you. You get me that exception, and I won't tell them how to calm Fluffy." Aston said leaning back with a wink.

Dumbledore was irked. The man in front of him, not only knew of the Hallows, but also knew of the three-headed-dog protecting the entrance to the dungeon protecting the Stone. Lifting his wand slightly, he responded, "What makes you believe I won't simply replace the beast?"

"You wouldn't dare. Hagrid would be in such a fit he'd quite easily blab it to anyone and everyone. So much so that he might accidentally describe the new beast. Add that to the fact that this was the only beast you and McGonagall could agree on that would be easy enough for Potter to overcome, and I know you wouldn't replace it, even if there was enough time to do so quietly." Aston said enjoying a lemon drop.

Starting the wand movements underneath his desk, he spoke. "What makes you think that I'd let you leave this office with your memories intact? What makes you think I wouldn't simply _obliviate_ you?" he said.

"You mean like you just tried to? Albus, you really need to meet Hermione. I'll quote you from my time. "She is the brightest witch of her generation." You are right, to say the least. She found a way to make it to where I cannot be obliviated. I apologize, but I cannot disclose as to how, you understand." He replied with an arrogant grin.

Angered further that the obliviate hadn't worked, he replied angrily, "Why don't I simply have you arrested?"

"You wouldn't want to do that. If the only reason being that I have enough information in my head that I could quite easily get on Minister Fudge's good side. You see, Dumbledore, these plans account for everything. We wanted to make sure that Harry got the aid he needs. Which means, Albus, I don't want to be your enemy. I want to help, but if you make me decide, I will choose Harry. I respect you, immensely, but I saw everyone I love die because Harry wasn't strong enough. I want to make sure that it doesn't happen this time. Now, do you have any ideas of how I might get past the wards?" Aston said, quite smug with himself. He may not have done it alone, but he just bested one of the greatest wizards ever in a battle of wits.

Sighing, knowing when he was beat, however bitter it tasted, he said calmly, yet irritated, "If you were to wear a Bracelet of Acceptance, the wards would see you as a wizard. You wouldn't have any magical powers, but it would be enough for you to pass through wards and see through tricks. I can have one made within the month."

"That'd be just peachy, but I know you have one in this office, one that isn't going to be charmed to keep an eye on me. I need to get through some wards much sooner than a month."

"How did?" Dumbledore's eyebrow raised.

"We tried to get it, but were interrupted by Tom." Aston replied nonchalantly.

"How did you know I had it now and not in the future when Harry was older?"

"Lucky guess." He said with an arrogant smirk.

Deciding it better to play it safe with this man, Dumbledore got up retrieved the bracelet. It wasn't much. It was a simple silver band with some words inscribed in Latin. After accepting it from Dumbledore, Aston slipped it around his wrist. It then autofit itself so that it wouldn't slip off without deliberate force.

"Thank you, Dumbledore. Now if you don't mind, I have to be somewhere." With a wave goodbye, he flood back to the Burrow. He felt the usually squeezing feeling and then walked out of the flames of the Weasley's fireplace. He was immediately greeted by the twins.

"Seems that Aston is back."

"I would think so, Fred."

"I'm not Fred, I'm George."

"No, If your George what does that make me?"

"No, no, no. I've got it."

"Your Gred and I'm Forge."

"Exactly." They said in unison.

Looking up they saw a smirk on Aston's face. "Nice try, boys. I'm not your mother, though. Fred, would you mind informing your mother that I am ready to take the trio to Diagon Alley? George, I'd like to ask you about something. Let's sit down." The respective boys went their ways. "Thank you for sitting down, Fred." Seeing the look of disappointment at their failure to confuse him, Aston continued, "I do believe you've found the map of Hogwarts, correct?"

Alert, Fred speedily said, "How do you know about the map? Nobody knows about the map except me and George!" Panicking, thinking they'd just lost their ultimate pranking tool was calmed down by Aston's next sentence.

"Don't worry, I don't want to take the map from you." At the look of relief he continued, "I just want to make sure you have it. I have a prank that will be told throughout the centuries. It'll go like this" After a minute of whispering, Fred's mouth grew into a very wide grin. "Just make sure you don't do it until right before Christmas break. Alright?"

With some words of confirmation, Fred got up to go tell George when the golden trio walked in. "Ah! There you three are. Hermione, I do believe that the questions can wait till we get to Diagon Alley." Seeing her mouth open to speak. "Ron, would you please show these two how flooing works?" right before Ron threw the powder in Aston said, quickly, "Ron, would you mind taking Hermione with you? I'd prefer that neither of these two get lost on their first floo trip."

Hermione looked a bit insulted at the insinuation that she'd mess it up, but Ron took her hand nonetheless, oblivious to the look. He walked over to the fireplace, threw the powder in, called out "Diagon Alley!", and jumped in, much to the surprise of Hermione. Before she could even scream, however, she was gone.

Harry had been watching all of this with an interest when Aston said, "Okay, Harry, it's our turn. Now, what you do is take a handful of powder, throw it in, announce where you want to go, then step in. Be very careful when you pronounce it, mispronunciations can be very… dangerous. Remember, we're going to 'Diagon Alley'."

With a pat on the back, Harry took the powder. Nervous, thinking he'd mess it up, said "Diagon Alley!" and threw down the powder. They walked into the fireplace and immediately felt the cramping rushing feeling. It was only a moment or so later that Aston dragged Harry out of the floo. Hermione was currently excitedly chewing off Ron's ear, causing Ron to look to Harry and Aston for help.

"Hermione, I know you're excited, but we really need to get started. If you'd be so kind as to hand me your list, as I doubt these two dunderheads remembered theirs." Aston only laughed at the indignant looks from Ron and Harry, as Hermione, blushing slightly, pulled out her list. "Ron, please take these two with you to Olivander's and have him start getting you each a wand, I'll be along shortly with the money."

They went their separate ways, Aston heading off to Gringotts and the children to Olivander's. He walked through the alley past peddlers and conjurors of cheap tricks. Ron led Hermione and Harry to Olivander's, a building that, while large, felt horrendously small. The bell rang over the door as they entered the dusty shop. The room was lined with bookshelves full of boxes. They walked up to the counter, Hermione and Harry gazing around at the many boxes.

Ron led them up to the counter that had more boxes. The only thing noteworthy was a small silver counter bell. "Go 'head, ring it." Ron said. Hermione, being more of a straightforward person, went up and rang the bell. At the sound of the bell, they heard some rustling in the back of the shop. An old man came walking out of the back, slightly bent over with gray hair.

"Hello. I'm Mr. Olivander, master wand maker." the man said, his voice crackly but gentle. "What can I get for you?" he aksed, his eyes boring through Hermione, who was squirming under his gaze.

"We need three wands, Mr. Olivander." Ron said. Mr. Olivander's eyes dashed to Ron, glaring at him.

"Yes, I see. Who shall we start with?" before anyone spoke, he whipped back to Hermione. "We'll start with you. Which is your wand arm?"

Squeamish under the glare once more, Hermione said, "Well, I'm right handed. I guess –" Before she could even finish her sentence, Mr. Olivander began taking measurements; shoulder to elbow, elbow to fingertip, finger to wrist, and many more.

"Don't worry; Mr. Olivander really is a nice guy, just a bit off." Ron whispered to Harry. Ron & Harry watched as the old man began to look at boxes, leaving the measuring tape to continue its job.

Mr. Olivander picked out a box and snapped at the tape, "Enough." It floated back to the counter as Mr. Olivander handed her the wand. "Try this one." Hermione waited a second. Nothing happened. "Hmm… Not that one." He said pulling out another box.

This process continued for about 5 minutes until the wand in Hermione's hand let off some sparks. It was 10¾", vine wood, with a dragon heartstring. "Yes, that's the one. Fine wand, that is. Good for all sorts of things. It's a jack of all trades, but a master of none." Olivander said, looking to Ron, "I suppose your next?"

With a nod, Ron stepped forward to the usual, "Which is your wand arm?" With a quick reply, the tape went to measure his right arm. Mr. Olivander went around the corner and grabbed a couple boxes. He came back and snapped at the measuring tape, that was currently trying to measure the girth of Ron's head, and went to try the wands. Ron first took an 11½", oak, with a dragon heart string. Nothing happened, until about 3 wands later when it gave off some green sparks. "Ah, a 14 inch, willow, with a unicorn hair core. Quite strong when it comes to offensive spells. He's a bit of a hot-head, isn't he?" Olivander said looking at Harry for the first time.

"Harry Potter, I presume?" Harry's hand darted to his forehead. With a short laugh, Olivander continued, "I don't need to see your scar to know who you are. I remember every wand I've ever sold. Your father used a 11 inch, mahogany, with a phoenix feather core, quite good for transfiguration. I sold that to him in 1971. You look remarkably like him, Harry. Though, you do have your mother's eyes."

Harry was confused as what to do. So he simply said, "Um, could we begin, Mr. Olivander, sir? I'm right-handed." He barely registered the bell of the door as the tape measure excitedly began measuring his arm and Olivander picked up some boxes.

Aston walked over to the trio and said, "I see we're finding Harry's wand. Very good. Harry, I hope you don't mind, but it seems that I cannot take money out of my muggle account. I had to withdraw the funds from your vault." At Harry's confused look, Aston continued. "You see Harry, your father was a very wealthy man. He left a very large fortune for you in your wizard bank account. You can only access your trust fund for now, but it still has a pretty substantial amount. Don't worry about that now, though, it's time to get your wand." He finished quickly, seeing Mr. Olivander upset at the interruption.

Ron had been taken aback when he found that Harry was paying for it all. He immediately talked to Aston. "I thought my family was paying for my things." He wouldn't take charity.

Aston knelt down next to Ron and said, "Ron, I know you think this is charity. I know you are proud of your family and think it's weakness to accept these gifts. I'll tell you right now; this is not pity, this is not charity, this is us respecting you. We respect your family as some of the strongest wizards and witches there are. I'd rather have a dozen Weasley's at my side than every Slytherin there has ever been. Harry may not know much about magic, but he'll know from the first time you help him."

Harry had began trying the wands that Olivander handed to him. The pile of wands that didn't work grew increasingly large. Whereas Ron and Hermione had taken about 5 minutes each, Harry's session easily grew into 20 minutes. Wand after wand did nothing, Olivander growing annoyed, but pleased, at the challenge of finding the right wand, handed Harry wand after wand. It wasn't until Harry was handed an 11 inch, holly, with a phoenix feather core that he finally saw white sparks. "That's odd." Is all Olivander said for a short while.

Harry, growing impatient at the silence, said, "What's odd?"

Still in a trance by the wand in Harry's hand, Olivander said, "As I said, I remember every wand I've ever made. The phoenix that gave the core of that wand only gave two feathers; one feather to your wand, and one to the wand in which I sold to the man who gave you that scar." Harry felt the foreboding coming from everyone else in the room.

Pushing for more information, Harry said, "Who is he-who-must-not-be-named?"

Aston decided that he would be more truthful than Olivander and began, "The man who killed your parents. He was a dark wizard named Voldemort." Ron and Olivander cringed at the name. "He was the equivalent of World War II Hitler. He believed that anyone who wasn't a pureblood wizard, such as Ron, should be killed. Your mother and Hermione are what some very cruel wizards call, mudbloods. It is the worst insult they can say, but it means "dirty blood". Hermione would be one because neither of her parents are wizards, same as your mother. Thankfully, only a small minority actually think that way. Most of Voldemort's" Ron and Olivander cringed again. "followers only said they do so they don't get killed. You don't have anything to fear, however. Your two wands are brothers. That means that so long as you wield your wand, no spell of his can harm you."

"Oh, well that's good." Harry said, confused as to what he was thinking. First he had felt angry towards this Voldemort, then slightly sympathetic to Hermione, then angry about Voldemort's hate towards his mother, then he felt…. something. It was an ache, but not the longing he felt for his parents.

Aston then turned to Olivander and said, "Sir, I have a bit of a question for you. What would happen if two wands that were exactly the same existed, bonded to the same person and everything." He cringed at the glare he got from Olivander.

"Well, that wizard would have two wands that would work supremely well. Though, this type of case should never occur, because every wand is unique. Why do you ask?" he said watching Aston for the first sign of a lie.

"Well, you see. Um. I uh…" he stuttered, bringing out the he had in his pocket. Olivander's eyes went wide at seeing the wand he had given out not 20 minutes ago. He didn't know how it happened and didn't really want to know, considering the implications.

Hermione, not dimwitted or unobservant, noticed that the wand looked a lot like hers. She realized, however, that there must be an important reason that Olivander didn't pursue any it any further. Before she could make sure it was the same as hers, Aston put it away. She would definitely look into it, though. They paid Olivander and made their way out of the shop.

"Okay, guys, we really must go get your other things. It's already almost noon, so I suppose we can eat first, but as soon as we're done we need to get your other things. Ron, any suggestions?" Aston asked as they stepped out of the door.

All eyes on him, Ron suggested, "How about the Flaming Broth?"

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><p>After a quick meal, the group made its way to Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. Harry and Ron had the usual hubabaloo happen as they were measured. Aston and Hermione started talking. Hermione decided to bring up the wand issue once more. "Mr. Kenny, I thought you said you didn't have a wand?"<p>

Realizing his blunder, Aston tried to cover it up, "It belongs to a friend of mine." It was the truth, at least.

"I thought wizards and witches used their wands for everyday task, though. Why would you have it when they need it?" Hermione asked, pushing forward, doing her best to get whatever information out of him.

Her attempts didn't go unnoticed. "She passed away" he semi-lied. He was sure Voldemort killed her after that _crucio_, but since that would never happen, he wasn't exactly sure what to consider her.

Deciding to leave it for now, as Harry and Ron were almost done, she didn't continue. She didn't believe entirely believe that wand belonged to someone deceased, however. Madam Malkin told them to come back in 20 minutes or so and the robes they needed would be done. With a round of thanks, the group made their way to Flourish Blotts. They purchased their school books and Hermione asked Harry, considering it was his money, if she could purchase a book called, "Mastering your Magical Supply". Being the generous person he is, Harry let her.

They made their way back to Madam Malkins to pick up their robes. Aston took the children to Magical Menagerie so that Ron and Hermione could pick out their respective animals. Aston truly had no idea what Ron would pick; he hadn't had a chance in his last life. Once Scabbers was gone, the Weasley's hadn't the money to purchase a new magical companion. It would be interesting to see what he chose.

Hermione had chosen Crookshanks, as expected. Ron hadn't found any animal that had bonded, which was interesting. Harry, as expected, hadn't found anything either. Ron spoke up after a few minutes. "We should head over to Eeylops Owl Emporium. None of these animals seem to be bonding, at all." He said a bit dejectedly. They made their way to the Owl Emporium and there Harry found Hedwig. Ron ended up finding a small tawny owl that he named Malik, after a player for the Chudley Cannons.

Hermione had been concerned that they were spending too much, until Aston replied, "Hermione, Harry has in his trust fund more money than your parents' entire dental practice is worth. He would have to really try if he wanted to spend his way into debt."

They dragged their things back to the floo, all of them huffing and puffing by time they got there, to go back to the Burrow. They stepped through the floo back into the Weasley's fireplace. They arrived to a very angry Molly Weasley.

While she was quite angry that this man had come and gone as he pleased with her son, in her home, and without informing her. She wanted to rip him a new one, but Dumbledore had contacted her earlier, forcing her to let him do so. She may not like it, but she had to treat him as a guest, for now. She was happy, however, that the children were okay.

She gave Ron a hug and then looked at Aston, a smile that didn't reach her eyes crossing her features. "Hello Aston. I trust everything went well?"

"Yes. Everyone got their school supplies and Ron has something he no doubt wants to show you." He said, giving Ron a smile.

Ron excitedly pulled out his new wand, which was longer than his forearm, and cried, "Yeah! Harry paid –"

Molly, angry that Harry had paid, even though he had only just learned about magic and really what had happened to his parents, and yelled at him, "YOU LET HARRY PAY FOR ALL OF THIS?" she shrieked, being heard by Ginny and the Twins outside.

Aston was no fool; he knew that 'hell hath no fury like a woman's wrath', so he knew that he needed to run, fast. He bolted out the front door before she had a chance to hurt him. He started running towards the Weasley's overgrown garden, where the twins and Ginny were laughing, watching the scene unfold. Their mother was in a rage chasing after Aston, firing hex after hex at him, all of them missing, to Aston's good fortune. He started yelling, "Hermione, point your wand at her and yell, '_Locomotor Mortis_'!"

Hermione, realizing it wouldn't be very good for him to get killed by Mrs. Weasley's fury, did as told. It took her a couple tries, but she managed to get the spell off. Mrs. Weasley, who was too angry to pay attention to what he had said, did not expect for her legs to lock together. Suffice to say, she fell over, her wand falling a few feet away. Aston, who was panting like a dog, collapsed on the ground. "Dear God, that woman is going to be the end of me, I swear it. Nice job, Hermione." With that, he lay there, gasping for breath, after a dozen or so laps around the house.

Harry, Ron, the twins, and Ginny were laughing hysterically. It wasn't until Hermione pointed out that Mrs. Weasley was still on the ground that the twins helped her up and inside. Aston, after recovering from the run, got up and said to them, "Okay, I would like for you to practice that hex for now. Ron, Ginny, help them find some garden gnomes to use it on. I'm going to go see that Mrs. Weasley is all right.

At the Weasley children's' moan, Harry asked, "What's wrong with garden gnomes?"

"Nothing to you maybe, but in the magical world, garden gnomes are annoying pest. They play pranks on people coming outside and are nasty little buggers. I'll show you." He then proceeded to reach in the bushes and pulled out a squirming creature. He then hit it upside the head and threw it out into the fields. Hermione gasped and Harry's jaw dropped. "Don't kid yourself, these things heads are thick as concrete. Look! They're laughing at that one! Grab em!" he said, plucking them up and repeating the process.

It took a few tries for Hermione and Harry to get used to hitting the creatures, but eventually they started throwing them with just as much ease as Ron and Ginny. After they got the crowd giggling like idiots, Harry, Hermione, and Ron started using the leg-locking hex on them. Hermione was the first to get it, having already read about it. Next was Ron, having seen his family do it a million times. Lastly Harry managed to get it.

When Aston came back out about 30 minutes or so later, they were all locking legs, albeit with much effort. "Very good. Now try this one: "_Colloshoo_". It'll make their feet stick to the ground."

After about 30 minutes, the children had it down, the gnomes were gone, and Mrs. Weasley was calmed down by the twins. "I say we go inside and show off the new wands to the others, they have yet to see them." Aston said leading everyone inside.

Molly still was upset with Aston, but would corner him later; now was the time to be happy for the three. She gave Ron her attention while the twins told Harry and Hermione about all the different spells they could try. After a while, Aston got everyone's attention. "We're going to practice some more spells tomorrow. I can't wait to see you three in action. Anything to add, Mrs. Weasley?"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, they're together, they have their equipment, and they have a teacher. I can't wait to get out of this boring trench of Aston doing things for them. I want to get more on to Harry. Until the next chapter, au revoir!**


	3. Chapter 3 Late Morning Rush

**With a Little Help from Myself**

**Chapter 3 – Late Morning Rush**

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**DISCLAIMER: If you think I could possibly own this, reread the site title. **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: First of all, sorry about the late release. To be honest, I just didn't have the patience or inspiration to finish it in time. I did however make this one longer then usual (even with having to make up the missed chapter), so I hope that helps. I wanted to, once again, thank everyone who has favourited the story or put it on their alert list. I also wanted to send a special thank you to Mr. Ravenclaw. Without him there would have been almost 3 dozen errors in chapter 2 alone. Without further adieu, here we go!**

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><p>Harry woke as he heard a tapping. Rubbing his eyes, he leaned up. Knowing that he would never get back to sleep with that tapping, he grabbed his glasses from the nightstand between the beds that Ron and he slept in. With his glasses on, he finally saw what was causing that tapping noise. It was Hedwig telling him to get up and let him out the window. Groaning at realizing what time it is, Harry rolled out of bed and made his way to the window. "Why so serious?" he said, opening up the window to let out the owls.<p>

At the angry hoots from the two owls, Hediwg and Malik, Ron rolled over and said, annoyed at being woken, "Seriously? It's only 7:03!" He then proceeded to put his pillow over his ear.

"Ron, they need to eat, too." Harry said, shutting the window behind the owls.

"Shove off. We're going to need all the rest we can get when we take that test to get sorted tonight."

"YOU still need to pack, you git." Harry said with a laugh. Ron had been so excited he couldn't bring himself to pack his things. "Come on, get up, Ron. We need to pack your things." Harry began thinking about what had happened over the last month.  
>Harry had been staying in Ron's room for a month or so now. The room, which was exploding with orange pictures of the Chudley Cannons, and the Burrow in general, had become a home to him. The cupboard under the stairs was just that, the cupboard under the stairs. This was something entirely different. Molly had been blown away, at first, when Harry was up before the crack of dawn making breakfast for everyone; especially when he tried to clean the entire house, something she hadn't dared since the twins were born.<p>

It had taken her throwing him outside for early training for her to get him to stop trying to clean. Hermione and Ron had come out to train with him every day of the last month; Hermione because she wanted to, and Ron because his mother made him, as usual.

Aston, rather against Molly's wishes, had taught them a number of magical things. While they didn't have the supplies for Herbology or Potions (and Aston straight out refused to teach them Magical History, much to Hermione's disappointment and the boys relief), they did begin their studies in Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Flying. Aston went to great efforts to teach them as much as he could, especially in DADA. At Hermione's questioning, and an argument with Molly, Aston explained that the teacher was a bumbling, stuttering, and mumbling man who would barely teach them a simple bat-bogey hex.

While this saddened the trio, it was nothing that they wouldn't have Aston to teach them more during the school year, they were happy that he had taught them what he could. It had been quite an exercise in patience, for all of them, because he couldn't actually show them the magic. The twins ended up helping quite a bit because they both knew the spells and how to perform them. By the end of the month, the twins and Aston were quite confidant that the trio would surprise all their teachers on their first day.

Aston had reserved some time towards the end of the month to teach them the basics of Potions, Herbology, and flying a broom. While Hermione had quickly picked up on the statistics and factual data, she had, as expected, not had quite as much success with flying a broom. Ron and Harry, on the other hand, were quite successful with flying their brooms, but took some time with the factual data. Aston had made quite sure that all three knew the answers to the questions that Snape was sure to ask, in an attempt to humiliate him.

Harry was snapped out of his reverie by the loud click of the snap closing the trunk shut. Ron then performed the feather-light charm, as directed by Aston. It was much more convenient than having to deal with a trunk that you could barely lift. Once they had packed Ron's trunk, it was already 7:30. Since they were both awake, Harry and Ron made their way downstairs.

They went into the kitchen to make some breakfast, after tiptoeing past the sleeping figure of Aston, who was clutching a journal to his chest. They had learnt the hard way to not try and get the journal. While Aston couldn't use magic, he had some quick reflexes, which meant they were both without their wands and subdued within minutes of trying to get it.

Harry went over to the fridge and pulled out some eggs and bacon, intending to cook it. Ron was not a morning person, and, as such, was asleep, his head resting on the table, when Harry turned around with the eggs and bacon in his hands. Sighing, he began preparing breakfast for himself.

It was about 10 minutes later that a groggy, if not cheery, Hermione came into the kitchen. They, having been to a muggle school, were the only ones used to getting up at what the Weasley's called, "an ungodly hour of the morning." Harry, appropriately, began making some more food as Hermione sat down to begin her morning routine of reading a chapter in her book, "Mastering your Magical Supply". Harry had a general idea about what it was teaching her, and was interested, but he hadn't had a chance to read it himself. Either she was reading it or he was busy. Ron didn't even give it a second thought after reading the title.

The results had been showing through. On spells that were more about precision than sheer power Hermione would out-do both Ron and Harry, such as Transfiguration. On occasion, Harry or Ron would get a spell before her, but rarely.

Harry plopped down a plate in front of Hermione and sat down to eat his own food. She began to eat, her eyes never leaving the book, as usual. Harry knew not to try and talk to her while she was reading. Harry didn't dislike her, but she was a bit bossy sometimes. Something both he and Ron had noticed. She had toned it down at Aston's insistence, much to her chagrin and embarrassment. Harry did like to talk to her, though. She was smart, whereas Ron was just a jokester type of person. It was nice to talk to her; she helped him with the spells he didn't understand.

She put down her book, apparently done for now. "I can't wait to go to Hogwarts, today! I wonder how they plan to sort us out. I hope I get put in Gryffindor; they have apparently trained the most powerful wizards ever. What house do you want to be in, Harry?" she said excitedly, all but wolfing down her food.

Harry had been thinking about that, and, in fact, decided that so long as he was in the same house as her, it didn't matter. Ron was fun to be around, but he had a feeling that he'd need her help. She was everything he was not; smart, bold, and a quick learner. He'd much rather stick with her than have to try and make new friends. He'd never say that, however. "Gryffindor sounds nice." Is all he said before they heard commotion from upstairs.

Looking at her watch, Hermione realized it was around 8:30. That was when the twins came running down the stairs, rudely awaking Aston, who had been recovering from a particularly bad hex he had received the night before. The twins were followed by the timely arrival of Percy and Molly, both admonishing them for some prank they had pulled in the restroom. Ron was woken by the commotion and Arthur came down the stairs, still groggy. Ginny was the last one to come down the stairs, obviously upset with the twins.

They came bursting into the kitchen laughing their butts off. They sat down next to the trio, "Ruddy brilliant, Fred! I can't believe they all did it!" George said, doubling over in laughter.

"All did what?" Hermione said, wary of their laughter.

"These two put a charm on the soap!" yelled a, quite literally, black and blue Ginny. Hermione, Ron, and Harry could barely contain their raucous laughter when they looked at the rest of the group. Ginny's hair was black and her skin blue, Percy was a bright orange with green hair, Molly was red with green hair, and Arthur was purple with white hair.

Their laughter was only multiplied when Aston walked in and said, "Okay, I'm pretty sure I didn't have THAT much to drink last night."

As the laughter died down, Molly started to get on to the twins about doing it on the day that they were going to Hogwarts. Luckily, the only coloured person that would be on the train would be Percy, much to Ginny's relief. Molly didn't refuse when Harry started making breakfast.

Today, she was more worried about getting everyone ready for their departure to platform 9¾. She was frantically inspecting everyone's trunks, slightly surprised when she found that Harry, Hermione, and Ron had preformed the feather light charm, as it was an early second year charm.

It was about an hour later that Molly was quite sure everyone had all they needed. It was already 9:30, meaning they had an hour and a half before the train left. It was a hassle to get everyone in the car. They finally managed to do it somehow, with a little magic, courtesy of Arthur Weasley. It was a long drive, for Molly at least, due to all of the joking and poking and pinching and rough housing and tomfoolery. Slowly but surely it grated on her nerves until she put a silencing charm on them.

Now riding in silence, Aston, whom no one was really sure why he was going, began to speak. "I made previous arrangements with Dumbledore. He told me that it would be perfectly alright if I rode on the Hogwarts Express with you three. I will be staying in a spare room at Hogwarts. I'll also continue giving you all special classes in DADA."

Molly wasn't sure whether she should be relieved that the man was out of her house or fearful that he would be continuing those blasted classes; she'd tried, and failed, to stop them at the Burrow. Arthur had discussed with her that, as Harry was the boy-who-lived after all, they would more than likely need those skills.

* * *

><p>It was about 10:30 when they finally arrived at King's-Cross Station. The adults, and Percy, rushed the kids in towards the platform between numbers 9 and 10. Harry and Hermione were confused as to what to do. They knew they were supposed to board at platform 9¾, but they didn't see it. It was when Molly sent Percy with his trunk in that they realized what they were supposed to do.<p>

The twins went over and put their carts right up against where the wall would have stopped them. They then leaned on their carts as if taking naps, falling through the entrance to the platform. More worried about being late then their lame joke, Molly rushed Hermione and Ron through the entrance. When she announced that it was Harry and Aston's turn, Harry paled. While he had seen the others just run or walk through, he still feared he was going to slam into the wall. Gripping his trunk, tightly, he took off at full speed. He kept running, anticipating the slam. It never came. He opened his eyes to see the Hogwarts Express.

Aston was already leading them over to the others when the others came through the barrier. There was plenty of milling about as people left and right were giving their last goodbyes. Percy and the twins were on the train packing their things as Molly said goodbye to Ron, Harry, and Hermione. They turned away from the woman and found that Aston had already taken their luggage on board. They jumped on and were sitting down in their cubicle as the bell, whistle, and engine indicated that it was now 11:00 A.M.. They looked out the windows and waved goodbye as the train departed.

Once the train was out of the station and everything settled down, Aston began talking, conspiratorially, "Okay guys. We're finally off to Hogwarts. I can't wait to see what your professors think about what I've taught you. Most first-years don't know what you do when they first arrive, so I have a feeling they'll be surprised.

At any rate, since I picked you up and took you to Gringotts instead of Hagrid, I need to point some things out." Aston cut them off as they began to ask who Hagrid was, "Hagrid is the half-giant grounds-keeper at Hogwarts. He was supposed to be the one who picked up Harry and introduced him to the magical world. At that time he was also supposed to pick up an object from the bank for Dumbledore. I wanted to point this out because you'll find some strange things at Hogwarts, and that object is the key to it all. Someone tried to rob it from the vault sometime this week. You 3 should try and find out what it is. It's just a bit suspicious that Hagrid got it right before it was supposed to be stolen, don't you think?"

Hermione agreed with him that it was suspicious. She also thought it suspicious that this was the first thing he brought up on the train. "Why does it matter to you, Aston?" she said, her eyebrow raised, expressing her suspicion.

Harry had seen it over the last month. Hermione was in a battle of wits with Aston. Every now and then she would pester him with questions, which he would deflect to something else happening in the Burrow. Now, however, they were all alone in the compartment, there were no distractions. In short, he had to answer.

"You see, I have reason to believe that it is Voldemort after the object, or one of his minions at least. I won't be able to find it, however, as Dumbledore is watching me closely. If I start picking up clues, he'll be upon me before I could do anything about it. That's why I am entrusting you 3 with this information. He won't be watching you. You can find it and then I can get it." He said.

"What makes you think we'll be able to find it? If Dumbledore is hiding something from you-know-who, then what chance does a group of first-year wizards have of finding it?" Ron asked. Harry silently agreed. Harry and Hermione hadn't ever used magic before this last month, much less went on a journey to find an object so valuable it had to be hidden from a dark wizard.

"Ron, I have faith that with your chess skills, Hermione's wits, and Harry's raw magical power, that you guys can do it. I might be able to help you guys, but for the most part, you guys are going to be on your own. Now, I cannot stress how important this is. Harry, I want you to tell me if your scar hurts. I don't care when, but it's very important that you tell me."

"Why?" asked the ever observant Hermione.

"The training over the last month has convinced me of one of my worst fears. It seems that whatever happened that caused Harry to survive, created a mental link. The gist of it is that they can quite literally see glimpses of each others' minds."

Harry shuddered, involuntarily. He remembered the night that he had woken up to Ron shaking him away, a look of fright on his face. Ron had been shaking him awake right as Astons stormed into the room. They had went back to bed, but Harry knew that Aston was not surprised, simply frightened. This bore some looking in to.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts by someone shaking him. "Huh, what?" he said, looking around at them.

"Harry, the snack lady is here, what do you want?" Aston said, pointing at the woman with the cart outside their cabin.

"Oh, uh, what do they have?"

"Well," Ron began listing, "they have Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Jelly Slugs, Liquorice Wands, Pumpkin Pasties, and, surprise surprise, sausage."

Harry had never heard of any of these, except the Cauldron Cakes. Harry decided it be fun to try a little bit of everything. "Uh, how much for a little bit of everything?"

"11 sickles, dear." The plump lady answered. Harry pulled out his bag and paid the woman.

After the lady had left and the door was shut once more, Hermione continued the conversation from before Harry zoned out. "How extensive is this mental link? Can they alter each others' thoughts or anything?"

"I really don't know how far it goes Hermione. I can only guess at this point, as we have yet to confront Voldemort. Now, enjoy your sweets, we've got a couple hours until we reach Hogwarts, and you'll want to be well rested for the evenings events." Aston finished the conversation. They all began eating their candy.

Harry pulled the cardboard packaging off of one of his Chocolate Frogs and was surprised. The frog actually moved; something that ordinary candy did not do. When his mouth hung open in surprise, it jumped in, causing him to nearly choke. Hermione gave a look of concern as Ron just laughed. Aston took noticeably more interest in the card than in Harry's welfare at that moment.

The frog was dissipating when Aston plucked the card out of the box in Harry's hand. He flipped it to reveal to Harry just what was on the card. It was a moving picture of a tall wizard with a long silver beard, crescent moon glasses, and a long flowing robe. Underneath the picture in golden letters was the name, "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore". "This, Harry, is Professor Dumbledore. Go ahead and read the bio, it's quite interesting. And no, Hermione. You can't recite what you know from the Hogwarts, a History." Harry ignored Hermione's blush as he took the card and flipped it over.

_Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times; Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragons blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten pin bowling._

Harry flipped the card back over, only to find that Dumbledore was gone. "Hey, the picture disappeared!"

"Well, you can't expect him to stay there all day, can you?" Ron replied, sniggering a bit at what he considered a stupid question, though he'd never admit it.

"Well, can't you, Ronald?" Hermione retorted, scolding him, like he was a small child.

Aston and Harry laughed at the ensuing argument. Things continued as normal, or as normal as things can be in the wizard world, for several hours. Harry was his usual quiet self, watching and listening as the others joked around. He sometimes indulged himself, but for the most part was pretty quiet, until they heard an announcement. "We will be arriving at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in about an hour. Please make sure you are robbed and all your things are packed away and ready to go. Thank you!"

"Okay, Hermione, there is some changing rooms right down the corridor, the boys and I will just change in here. Please knock before you come in. I can only imagine your face if you didn't." Aston said, opening the door to the hall for Hermione. Hermione, for her part, was blushing furiously at his insinuation. Harry was blushing, as well, though, not as hard. Ron just had his ears turn a slight shade of pink.

Hermione took her change of clothes and left, mumbling something like "Why I never!".

Aston turned to them and said, "Okay, which one of you wants to try this charm first?"

Ron ended up going first, suffice to say, which didn't end well. It ended with the glass splintering into a million tiny pieces. "Um, Ron, I think we should let Harry do this." Turning to Harry he said, "Use the same spell you use to fix your glasses and then use the 'Obscurovas' charm."

Harry took out his wand, aimed it at the shards of glass, and said, "Reparo." Instantly, the shards of glass floated upwards into the air and assembled themselves back together, repairing the glass door. Harry then proceeded to cast the second charm Aston said. He pointed his wand at the glass and said, "Obscurovas." The glass then proceeded to fog up. In a matter of seconds the glass was so foggy Harry could not see out into the hall anymore, meaning no one else could see in.

"Okay, you two. We need to change, we've just wasted a good 5 minutes trying to fog up that window. I doubt Hermione will be too much longer. So let's change." Aston said, pulling his trunk off of the shelf. He pulled out a robe and clothes and proceeded to change.

Harry and Ron began grabbing their own clothes and were halfway through when they heard a couple raps on the door. "Are you three done in there?" Hermione's voice asked, hesitantly.

"We're decent enough. Come on in, Hermione!" Aston replied, pulling his shirt over his head. Hermione creaked open the door, slinking in like a cat. Ironically, Crookshanks did the same around her feet, Harry noticed.

He was just pulling his sweater vest over his button up shirt, when Hermione said, "Harry, you might want to avoid this boy with blonde hair, Malroy or something. He's going around saying he's going to be your best friend. He's a pretentious snob if you ask me."

Before Harry could say anything Ron already had a sneer on his face. "It's Malfoy. He's a git of a pureblood. He thinks he's better than everybody else, just because his father has a lot of money. His father fought with you-know-who in the war, in his inner circle. Yet, because he has money, he was able to get out of it somehow."

"I'll keep clear of him." was all Harry said before they heard the engine die down, indicating they were slowing down.

"Seems we'll be there soon. Get your trunks down; we'll want to be off the train pretty quick, lest we get stuck in the crowds." Aston said, pulling his own trunk down. "Also, you'll want to put your sweets in your trunks or eat them. There's a very good chance you're going to get wet."

The trio decided better safe than sorry. Well, Hermione and Harry did, at least. They then took their feather light trunks over to the door and waited for the train to stop. It was about 15 minutes later that the train came to a screeching halt, though silencing charms kept the passengers from hearing the brunt of it.

They stepped off the train and were immediately met by a huge man, a man twice as tall as a normal man an almost 3 abreast. The trios' jaws dropped at the sheer size of the man. Aston instead took a more polite approach, "Oi! Good to see you Hagrid! How's Fang?"

Hagrid turned upon hearing his name. "Fang's fine, 'ut I don' 'lieve 've 'ad the pleasure o' meeting ya 'fore. Who 're you?" Hagrid said.

"I'm Aston, a friend of Dumbledore's. This is Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and can you guess who this is?" he said pointing at Harry.

Hagrid glanced over at him an nearly had a heart attack then and there. The boy was the spittin image of his father. "I don' 'lieve it. It's 'arry Potter!" He ran up and gave Harry a bear hug, nearly choking Harry. "I aint seen ye since you 'ere a wee 'aby! I knew yer folks, I did. 'ames and Lily were great people. You look jus like yer pops, ye know? Cept, you got yer mother's eyes." he said, putting Harry down, much to his relief.

Aston merely laughed and said, "Hagrid, I know your excited to see the boy, but we really need to get on the way to Hogwarts. I'll get them over to the boats, you just worry about the other first-years."

Realizing that there were other people on the train, Hagrid began calling, "All firs' years put yer trunks 'ver 'ere! Come on! All firs' years 'ver here!"

Harry turned and put his trunk with the others and walked after Aston, Ron, and Hermione. He was rubbing his ribs when he addressed Aston, "Hagrid knew my parents?"

"Indeed he did. He was a great friend of theirs. In fact, he was the one who had the distinct honour" he spat that last word, "of being the one to take you to the Dursely's."

Harry really didn't have a chance to ask much more as they got into the boat. The general milling about and raucous made it nearly impossible to speak to each other. It wasn't until they finally shoved off that people began to quiet down enough for Harry to speak, but by that time his breath was taken away by the spectacular sight of Hogwarts. The building was larger than anything he had ever seen. The castle stood on top of a cliff some 50 meters above the lake.

He got a swift jab in the ribs, causing him to yelp, from Ron as they started to turn from his lack of paddling. His mind back on track of paddling, he heard Hermione say, "I saw the picture in Hogwarts, a History, but it's so much more astonishing in real life!" She then continued to rattle on about things she had learned from the book for the rest of the time it took them to row to the school.

They paddled underneath the cliff and into an alcove. Tying up their boats, the students made their way up the staircase, leading them up into the castle proper. They were greeted by a stern woman with what seemed the eyes of a hawk. She curtly introduced herself as "Professor McGonagall" and then led them to what appeared the front hall. They were told to wait as she went inside two great big doors.

Aston said to the trio, "I'm going to go inside, don't worry, the sorting isn't hard at all." With that, he winked and went in the grand doors, slinking into a seat at the Gryffindor table.

Harry anxiously switched his weight from one foot to the other. Aston had been a joker, and a rather bad one at that, over the last month. Could this be another of his really bad jokes or was he being serious? His nerves ate away at him until he heard someone speaking to him. Looking up he saw the boy with blonde hair that Hermione and Ron had mentioned. The boy held out his hand, "Draco Malfoy. You must be the great Harry Potter. You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He said with an arrogant smirk.

Harry, having been briefed by Aston what Draco meant, swatted away the boy's hand and said, "I'd rather have 10 muggle-borns and blood traitors behind me than 100 of you arrogant pure-bloods. Why? Because I know you wouldn't hesitate to stab me in the back. Your father would know, wouldn't he? What do you think Voldemort would say about your father's betrayal?" Harry spat.

Draco, for all intents and purposes, had not expected this, and it showed. The great Harry Potter, heir to the noble and most ancient house of Potter was a blood-traitor? He sneered, "Have it your way Potter, you'll soon find I can be a very powerful enemy."

Before Harry could retaliate any further, Professor McGonagall brought them into the Great Hall. Harry gasped at the sight of the room. The roof was breath taking. The magic made it look as if there was no roof. You could see the stars on this cloudless night, hundreds of candles were floating mid-air, there were banners hanging from no where bearing the coat of arms of each house. Harry barely even noticed McGonagall bringing a three legged stool and a hat to the top of the steps. He did notice, however, when that hat began to sing.

_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_  
><em>But don't judge on what you see,<em>  
><em>I'll eat myself if you can find<em>  
><em>A smarter hat than me.<em>

_You can keep your bowlers black,_  
><em>Your top hats sleek and tall,<em>  
><em>For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat<em>  
><em>And I can cap them all.<em>

_There's nothing hidden in your head_  
><em>The Sorting Hat can't see,<em>  
><em>So try me on and I will tell you<em>  
><em>Where you ought to be.<em>

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_  
><em>Where dwell the brave at heart,<em>  
><em>Their daring, nerve, and chivalry<em>  
><em>Set Gryffindors apart;<em>

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_  
><em>Where they are just and loyal,<em>  
><em>Those patient Hufflepuffs are true<em>  
><em>And unafraid of toil;<em>

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_  
><em>if you've a ready mind,<em>  
><em>Where those of wit and learning,<em>  
><em>Will always find their kind;<em>

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_  
><em>You'll make your real friends,<em>  
><em>Those cunning folks use any means<em>  
><em>To achieve their ends.<em>

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_  
><em>And don't get in a flap!<em>  
><em>You're in safe hands (though I have none)<em>  
><em>For I'm a Thinking Cap!<em>

There was a cheer among the students when the song was over. Professor McGonagall then pulled out a list and began calling out students names. "Abbot, Hannah" she called. A girl with blonde hair walked up, nervously, to the stool and put on the hat.

The hat's face scrunched up and twisted for a few moments before yelling out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" With a cheer from the corresponding table, Hannah walked over and sat down.

This process continued, Harry only paying attention to where his friends got placed (both in Gryffindor). It was a little while later that his own name was called. He walked up, nervous under the sheer amount of people staring directly at him. He sat on the stool and plunked the hat onto his head. Almost immediately he heard the hat's voice in his head. "Hmm, difficult. VERY difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh yes. And a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you?"

"Please not Slytherin. Please not Slytherin." Harry thought back.

"Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know. It's all here in your head. And Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, there's no doubt about that. No?"

"I'd rather stand alone than with those pure-blood pricks. If you don't have the wit to realize that, you must not be a very smart thinking cap." He said, hastily and forcefully.

"Insulting the person who is sorting you? Not very smart, but very brave. You must be a…. GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled. As Harry took off that hat he felt relieved. For a moment there he thought he was going to get put in Slytherin. He smiled broadly as he sat down with Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. He remembered a phrase a teacher of his had once used, 'what a long strange trip it's been'.

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: Again sorry for how late this is, but the scene is just so boring to lay out. Anywho, please review, etc. Until chapter 5, au revoir.<br>**


	4. Chapter 4 First Day Jitters

**With a Little Help from Myself**

**Chapter 4 – First Day Jitters**

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**DISCLAIMER: If you think I could possibly own this, reread the site title.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: The only person to review pointed out that the story seems to focus on Aston a lot. My explanation is that I'm just trying to introduce him before he becomes a side character during the events of the school year. He will be coming back, however. For now, think of him like sausage on the burner while you attend to the bacon; just as good, but needs to stew in its juices.**

**Also, sorry about how short this is. It is taking forever to figure out their class schedules. By time I knew it, it was Thursday (No time left to write, have to send it for beta before release). So if someone has a spreadsheet or something, that'd really help. **

**Finally, thanks for alerts, favs, and (for once) the reviews. I also want to send another thank you to my beta, Mr. Ravenclaw. Without further adieu, here we go!**

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><p>"Well this is great!", Ron exclaimed as they ate the feast that had magically appeared with a wave of Dumbledore's hand. "We're all together. I don't know what I would've done had I been placed in Hufflepuff."<p>

"I'm not so sure that hat is all too bright." Harry mumbled. He was still a bit angry that it had thought to put him in Slytherin; that would have been hell.

"Huh?" Hermione leaned over to hear him.

"Oh nothing. It just took a while to place me, didn't it?" He said, not revealing the whole truth.

"It only took a minute or so." Hermione replied. "Though, I know what you mean. It felt like ages that it's voice debated in my head, and I was only up there for about half a minute. I wasn't all too surprised, though. It contemplated putting me in Ravenclaw. I was quite flattered actually. I mean, in _Hogwarts, a history_~"

Ron interrupted, making a blah blah motion with his hand, "Yes we all know you're a know it all, but can we just enjoy the meal?" Ignoring her death glare, Ron took a bite of some chicken.

"Come now, Ron. Don't be rude to the lovely lady." Aston said, plopping down next to them. "You never know, you might want to date her someday." He winked at Ron, who, in turn, turned a furious shade of red, as did Hermione.

Harry grinned at his friends' discomfort. It was nice that Ron finally got a taste of his own medicine, having tortured Harry about Ginny. He then took a bite of his roast beef. He was thoroughly enjoying it. While he had had more than enough at the Burrow, sausage did get tiring.

At the quiet generated by the embarrassment of both kids, Aston said, "Oh, come off it. You two can't take a joke? Let's eat before heading up to Gryffindor Tower. I can't wait to watch you guys in class tomorrow."

Oliver Wood, who was sitting nearby, overheard him. "How do you know about Gryffindor Tower? You're obviously not a teacher." he said.

Turning to Oliver, Aston replied, "Mr. Wood, I am Mr. Potter's, Mr. Weasley's, and Miss Granger's personal tutor. I will be teaching them magic privately, as directed by Dumbledore. That is how I know. In fact, I think you should consider Mr. Potter for the seeker position. He's quite good you know."

"Potter's a~" whatever Oliver was about to say was not heard over the booming voice of the headmaster.

"Now that we have all eaten, would the prefects please lead the students of your respective houses to your dormitories, please? With that, I bid you good night." Dumbledore said.

At that, the prefects stood up and lead their students off. Aston stood up with the Gryffindors and walked along with them. They made their way in near silence up to the Gryffindor dormitories. When they arrived, Percy gave the new password, _Caput Draconis_, and the students flooded in. The majority of the students made their way upstairs to get to bed, some stayed downstairs to catch up with old friends, the first-years were at a loss. Percy noticed and began explaining. "Just head up the stairs and you'll find numbered doors. The door with your number, being your first year you'd be in number 1, is your dormitories. Your trunk will be sitting at the end of one of the beds. You can switch with other students. Also, students are not allowed into the dormitories of the opposite gender. With that, I suggest not staying up too late, don't want to oversleep." He turned and as an afterthought added, "Oh, and make sure your down at breakfast tomorrow. Breakfast is at 9:20. You'll be receiving your course schedules then."

Before he could take off, however, Harry watched Aston made his way through the crowd and got his attention. Harry watched for a moment as Aston began speaking, but turned back around and said to Ron and Hermione, "Let's head up to our dorms. After that ride across the lake, going to bed sounds nice."

"I agree. Plus, it wouldn't do at all for us to oversleep and not get our schedule, tomorrow morning." Hermione said, matter-of-factly. "See you two in the morning." She said making her way over to the stairs leading to her dorm.

Harry and Ron made their way over to their stairs and made their way up. At the top they found a small hall with 8 doors (one for each year plus a guest room). They quickly found the first-year dorm, being the closest to the stairs, and went inside. They found their things at the end of two of the beds and began unpacking their things. Looking at the grandfather clock that was next to the door, he found that it was about fifteen minutes to 9:00.

He lay down on the four poster bed and just thought for a while. At first he had simply been thinking about the exciting new classes he'd have; Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, DADA. Then he began to think about what Aston had talked about on the train ride, about the object that Voldemort was after. Aston had said that Voldemort didn't die 10 years ago, he was only weakened, tremendously. He said that while it was a lot to put on a kid's shoulders, Harry needed to know the truth.

This left Harry wondering just what the truth was. Was Aston being truthful? Was Voldemort really after whatever this was? Was Aston working for Voldemort and using him to get whatever it is? These questions and more floated through his head as he dozed off, dreaming of wondrous castles and magic.

* * *

><p>Harry woke the next morning to the grandfather clock chiming that it was time to get up at 8:00 A.M.. He reached over to the table to his right and grabbed his glasses. Leaning up, he realized he had fallen asleep in his robes from last night. He got up and grabbed his clothes. Self conscious about changing in front of the others, who he hadn't even met last night, he climbed up on his bed, closed the curtains around his four-poster, and began changing on his bed.<p>

It was about 10 minutes later when Harry came out that he realized he was the first one done, everyone else was groggily fumbling around in the morning light shining in from the windows. Harry made his way over to the door and went down the staircase to find that Hermione and Aston were already down there. Aston was going over something with her, from the looks of things. He walked over to them, who had yet to see him.

"No, no, no. Hermione, listen to me. That book is wrong on at least a dozen different accounts. I know from personal experience that you can't master your control in a month!" Aston said, a bit loud.

"How could you know? You're a muggle! You don't have any magical control to start with!" Hermione retorted, a bit purple in the face. She was obviously angry that he doubted her ability.

"Hermione, don't you remember when I told you ab~. Oh, hey Harry! Good morning." Aston said, noticing Harry over Hermione's shoulder.

"Oh don't even try to distract me. Harry's not behin~" she began saying.

She was cut off Harry came up and went "Boo!" grabbing her shoulders.

She nearly fell out of her seat she was so surprised. She gave him a glare as Harry and Aston burst into a fit of laughter. "I can't believe you, Harry. I'd expect that from Ron or Aston, but not you." She said, feigning hurt.

After a minute or so of this, they quieted down and Harry asked, "What were you guys talking about? I heard something about magical control." He sat in a chair across the coffee table from them.

"Hermione here is trying to convince me that, by reading that book for the last month, she's done what usually takes a wizard years to do." Aston said, in a mocking tone.

"What's that?" Harry said, curious.

"She's trying to tell me that she's mastered her magical control. Most wizards don't ever master it, yet she claims to have done it in a month!" Aston said, in a haughty voice.

"I did NOT say I mastered it, I simply said that I had mastered the first step." Hermione responded with a harrumph.

It was at that moment that Ron finally made his way stumbling down the stairs. As he approached the group he asked, "Shall we go down to breakfast? I'm starving!"

"Ron, you git. Breakfast doesn't start for another hour." Hermione said, getting up. "Now if you don't mind, I am going to go use the lavatory."

As Hermione left, Aston looked to the boys and said, "I must agree with her, we probably should go find the men's' room." Harry silently agreed. While he didn't mind smell, having lived in the cupboard, he still preferred to smell decent.

* * *

><p>It was 8:50 when the three of them left the men's room, washed and refreshed. Aston was explaining the use of the <em>scourgify<em> charm. "While _scourgify_ can be an immensely useful spell, it doesn't make up for taking a shower. Same applies to your clothes. I'd say you can _scourgify_ them about 3 times before they will need to be actually washed. You see, the charm is only blasting the dirt and whatever else into the air around you. So anything that has soaked in won't go away. So while using it will get the dirt and mud off of you, it won't get you clean. I'd say use it if you're going to be late, but try to take actual showers in place of using the charm. Also, don't point your wand at the face when doing it. If you do, instead of cleaning you, it will put a bar of soap in your mouth."

"Please, Aston, stop. Your starting to sound like Hermione. Can't we just go down and wait for breakfast?" Ron asked, exasperated. Harry agreed. While they had been taking showers, Aston had gone on about at least a dozen different spells. Harry could only take so much before breakfast, especially now that his stomach was gnawing at him to eat something.

"Sure we can go down to breakfast." Aston replied, a bit dejectedly at the two all but ignoring his lesson. They began making their way down the steps to the ground floor, talking about the boys first few lessons the following Saturday.

They arrived in the great hall, quite literally, moments before the food appeared. They plopped down next to Hermione and began talking amongst themselves. It was about 15 minutes into breakfast that a horde of owls poured into the room. "What are they doing?" Harry asked, watching them all.

"They're delivering letters, Harry. You see, in the wizarding world, they either use the floo or owl post. These students are getting things they forgot, personal messages of congratulations, or their daily newspaper." Hermione answered. Ironically, two owls landed in front of the group; one for Hermione, her newspaper, and one for Ron, who forgot some ingredients for potions class.

"So, are you guys excited about your classes? I doubt it'll be anything you can't handle." Aston began, chowing down on some bacon.

"Excited? Why would be excited? We're going to spend an hour being told how to do something you taught us a month ago." Ron grumbled, playing with his eggs.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded, "Aston is only one teacher. He can only teach it to us so well. You've got to admit, you could still use some help with some of the spells." Hermione said, flipping through her Daily Prophet.

"I'm not that bad!" Ron protested.

"No, you're not bad, per se. You certainly aren't the best, however…" Aston said, avoiding the gaze of a nonplussed Ron.

Harry silently wondered how often these two could do this. It seemed like in every other conversation one of them insulted the other. As he was contemplating this, Percy came by, distributing class schedules. Harry received his and took a look. He collected his things, after taking a look at a clock standing nearby one of the suits of armor. They made their way off to class, Aston saying he was going off to the library.

* * *

><p>Harry's first few days went smoothly, in his opinion. Snape had tried to degrade him, but was (un)pleasantly surprised to find that Harry (A stupid Gryffindor) knew the answers to his questions, putting him in a decidedly foul mood. He'd ignored Draco, who didn't do much but glare at him and snigger at Snape's insults.<p>

He'd been quite successful in his other classes, all things considered. McGonagall had been quite pleased that 3 of her students knew how to do the basics as soon as they came into class. She was not, however, about to let them off easy. She moved them ahead to transfiguring a rock into a cup. While this had challenged them, they had it by the end of the class.

Charms had been a breeze; Professor Flitwick had no clue as of what to do. Aston had taken certain… liberties when teaching them charms. While he had taught them some second year charms, he had skimped out on what they needed for first year, throwing Flitwick for a curve. He had settled that he would talk with Aston before trying to assign a second year charm. Suffice to say, that hadn't ended well. (All you need to know, is that the chickens were not harmed.)

Professor Quirrel was reduced to even worse stuttering when the three students had practically taught his class. Professor Sprout had had a delightful time answering Hermione's, and occasionally Ron or Harry's, questions as she began talking about the magical properties of certain plants. Astronomy had been one of the things that Aston had not already taught them, resulting in the three actually learning something. History of Magic had been left to their actual teacher as well, and Harry had a feeling he knew why. Aston had made a game of specifically not teaching them about the goblin rebellions; Professor Binns seemed to be the complete opposite.

Aston had proposed that they go and see Hagrid during their afternoon tea on Friday. Hermione hadn't been quite so enthusiastic, or Ron for that matter, but Harry was very excited. Hagrid knew his parents, which was enough to make him want to meet him. His whole life the only thing he had been told was that they were drunks and failures. To find out they weren't was a relief. He desperately wanted to learn more.

So it was that on Friday Aston was walking them down to Hagrid's hut. "Oh Hagrid is an absolutely pleasant person to talk with. I've been down to see him a few times while you three were in class. Though, I must warn you, his cooking skills are not the best. His tea is alright, but avoid the food." Aston said, walking around a pumpkin that had grown out over the path. Harry noted that Hagrid's hut was exactly that; a hut. If he hadn't known any better, he'd have sworn he'd quite literally stepped back into medieval England, excusing the glass panes, of course. The walls looked to be made of mud and it had a thatched roof.

Aston walked up and knocked on the door, causing something inside to start barking. "Hagrid, it's me, Aston. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are here, too!" he yelled, to be heard over the barking.

They heard the same voice they'd heard at the station. "Oi! Fang, quiet, we 'ave guest!" he said, opening the door. "Goo' to see 'ou all! Come in. Come in. I was jus' making tea." Harry followed the others inside, and was slightly taken aback. Everything in the room was simply huge. A bed nearly 4 times as big as Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's was over in one corner, stove big enough to fit two turnkeys, and a table big enough for half a dozen Vernon Durselys. The group walked over and sat down at the table. Harry looked at the Daily Prophet as Aston began striking up a conversation. Harry completely ignored them as he read, suffice to say, Aston had been true to his word; the vault had been emptied earlier.

"_Investigators continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that had searched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you." said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon."_

Harry's mind reeled. This settled one thing, at least. He knew that the threat was real. All he needed to confirm was that it really was Hagrid who emptied the vault. He listened to the conversation to find out how to jut into the conversation. "I tink the pum'ins 'ill be ready fer Hallo'een. Oh the feast 'ill be gran'!" Hagrid said, energetically.

"I agree. Those pumpkins are simply huge." Ron said.

"How long have you been growing them?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I'd say since late July." Hagrid said, stepping right into Harry's trap.

"That's when my birthday is." Harry said giving Aston a look, silently pointing to the newspaper.

Aston, who seemed to get it, added, "And that break-in at Gringotts. I was there the day it happened, didn't see anyone out of sort, though. I did see you there, though, Hagrid. That struck me as odd."

Hagrid began stuttering, nervous about where the subject was going. "What do ye mean, Aston?"

"Well," Aston started, "I think it's a bit odd that you'd be at the bank, considering you're not allowed to have a vault." Hagrid started squirming a bit, which was actually quite funny given his size. "So that means you must have been picking up something for someone."

"Okay, it's time for you guys to leave." Hagrid said standing up.

The trio followed suit, but Aston remained sitting, like a defiant child. "What was in the vault, Hagrid? We've got you at the place; we've got you at the time. We only want to know what was in there." Aston said, his eyes betraying his calm demeanor.

Hagrid picked up Aston by the back of his shirt and stood him at the door. "That's between Dumbledore and Mr. Flamel. Oops! I wasn't supposed… Argh. Please leave." Hagrid said, confused, nervous, and with a note of finality.

As Hagrid closed the door, Hermione scolded Aston, "What was that for? We come over for afternoon tea and you interrogate him!"

"Yes, but you heard what he said, didn't you, Hermione? He gave us all the information we need to know." Aston said, as they began walking up towards the castle.

Before Hermione could scold him even more, Harry butt in. "Hermione, Hagrid told us whose vault it was. Now, considering he knows Dumbledore, we know he was either wealthy or powerful. What would that man hide in a vault, that is so valuable he has it moved here to Hogwarts, which is supposed to be the most secure place in magical Britian?"

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!" Aston said. "We find what would be that valuable, we find what Voldemort is after. Then all that's left is to find where it's at." Harry saw Aston look down at his watch then say, "You guys need to get to class. We'll discuss this later, back at Gryffindor tower." With that, they split off.

Harry was deep in thought as they entered class. '_Aston was right, whatever it was is at Hogwarts. Why is he trying so hard to find whatever it is, though?_' His thoughts troubled him for the rest of class.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not much to say except; if ANYONE has any help they can give me on recreate the Hogwarts Class schedule would be much appreciated!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5 Passes, Blocks, and Big Drops

**With a Little Help from Myself**

**Chapter 5 – Passes, Blocks, and Big Drops**

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**DISCLAIMER: If you think I could possibly own this, reread the site title.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sorry for the (very) late next chapter. I won't make any excuses either. To put it plain and simple; I was lazy. I finally got a hold of myself, however. I resolve to get this chapter done (and eventually the entire story). Once again, thank you Mr. Ravenclaw, and the readers. **

**For those who don't know, I have tried to make this story compatible with both the Metric and Standard systems of measurement. I would also like to remind the American audience that in England the first floor is the ground floor, making the second floor the first floor and so forth. I always put the metric and British way of saying things first with the American way in parenthesis after. This is done because as they are in England I feel it is appropriate. **

**IMPORTANT: If you have read the previous chapters before 29/12/11 (12/29/11 in the States) then I strongly suggest skimming through them. I am currently revamping them. I went through and realized just how poorly the first two were written. I combined them and have revised them. You don't have to completely re-read them, but do take note that he is now much more conservative with how much knowledge he reveals to people. (I wrote those two chapters as a joke. I never really expected anyone to care for this story. That is why they have been revised.)**

**Without further adieu, here we go!**

* * *

><p>Things had continued as normal, or as normal as things get in a magical school that's hallways change on a daily basis. Ron and Harry had been goofing off most classes, though due to their tutoring with Aston it wasn't too much of a problem. Hermione was diligent in both classes and tutoring sessions. She scolded them for their jokes every now and then, but Harry caught some of her grins at their jokes.<p>

He'd also caught wind of the other Gryffindors' nervousness. Harry had noticed that most of the others had been uncomfortable at first, having an adult around the common room, but his joking nature eased their nerves. It might have just been his inability to punish them, however.

Aston had done his best, or so he said, to not alienate them from the other students, but his constant insistence to be involved in what they were doing did exactly that. Harry didn't mind, however. He was just happy to be out of the Durselys' home and have some people to talk to without being ordered to do something. He was still a bit overwhelmed by it all. To think that but two and a halve months ago he was a practical slave to his uncle.

Harry had tried discussing Nicholas Flamel with Aston, but he had stopped him from doing so; pointing out an owl that didn't quite fit in with the normal menagerie of the day to day life of Hogwarts. Harry may have been a fool when it came to magic, and most muggle academics as well, admittedly, but he was clever enough to know that the conversation was being watched. Aston had simply said, "I'll always remember my first chocolate frog. What about you, Harry?" diverting the conversation from sensitive topics.

He'd asked Hermione, being the bookworm she is, he expected her to know, but she was at a loss, as well. It obviously irked her that she didn't know something, considering that she spent the next week scouring the library for anything referring to Nicholas Flamel. Ron hadn't given it a second thought after his initial lack of knowledge. Harry knew he had heard it somewhere, but couldn't place his finger on it.

It was later, after tea with Hagrid, when they finally had their first Hogwarts flying lessons. They had each picked one of the brooms out of the school supply and walked out onto the field with Madam Hooch. Ron had commented on the fact they were an old model and only went up to 100 kmph (60mph). Harry noticed Hermione tense up slightly at this. He didn't know why, she'd probably ace this just like the other subjects.

Madam Hooch had them place their brooms on the ground and stand next to it. She then began instructing, "Firstly, flying can be quite dangerous, just as any sort of magic. Since this is your first time flying a broom, you are to mount, hover, then land again. Once I am confident you can do this, safely, we will move on." Walking down the aisle between each line of students, she continued, "Stick your hand out over the broom, focus a bit on the broom, and say "up"."

Harry put his hand out and concentrated. "Up." he stated, causing the broom to come zipping up into his hand. Looking around he noticed that he was the first to get it. Others like Draco, who no doubt owned a broom at home, got it pretty quickly. Most surprising, however, was that Hermione did not get it until she was nearly the last person left. 'Odd, she usually gets things first.' He thought before being brought back to reality by Madam Hooch's voice.

"Now, please straddle the broom, while keeping it level. It is very important not to tilt it while you are getting on. It wouldn't be prudent to be in the air when you can't even hold on. Now, begin." Harry, remembering to keep his broom level, threw his leg over and stood there. This step, compared to the last, went much faster. Madam Hooch then asked that each of the students pull up on the broom and give a kick off the ground.

In theory, this should have been a very simple task for everyone. In practice, Neville went flying into the air at a much faster speed than was anticipated. Harry watched as he lost his grip and went into a free fall. Harry pulled out his wand and did the first thing that came to mind. "_Windgaurdium leviosa!_" he yelled, hoping to stop Neville's fall. Unfortunately, the spell only slowed Neville, and he went crashing into the ground. Harry, and others, cringed as they heard several resounding cracks from the boy.

Madam Hooch went running up and began to examine him. "I will be taking Mr. Longbottom to the medical wing. I don't want any of you leaving the ground while I'm gone. As you can see, flying is very serious and dangerous. Anyone who does will lose their flying privileges. Please wait here until I return. Also, 20 points to Gryffindor for possibly saving another students life, Mr. Potter." She told the class levitating Neville.

Harry turned a shade of pink under the stares he attracted from the other students. As he was putting his wand away, he heard someone yell, "That stupid squib dropped his rememberall!"

As Harry looked up he saw Hermione walk up and tell Draco Malfoy, "Hand that over, I'll give it to him at dinner." She stuck her hand out.

"Why? Finder's Keepers." He said backing away from her.

"Come on, Malfoy. We don't want any trouble." Harry said, walking over, broom in hand.

"Trouble? Who said I was causing trouble. You're the ones trying to take my latest acquisition." Draco said with a cackle from Crabbe and Goyle.

"Malfoy, give us the rememberall." Ron said, walking up to join Harry and Hermione.

Draco, visibly intimidated, cried out, "If you want the thing, come and get it!", jumping on his broom. Harry took a running start and, completely ignoring Hermione's protest that he'd get in trouble, jumped onto his own broom, chasing after Malfoy. They stopped some 15 meters (45 feet) in the air. "Fine! The thing's yours, Potter, if you can catch it!" Draco exclaimed, throwing the rememberall towards the school building. Harry sped after it, right past Draco. Harry caught up to it just in time to stop it from crashing into a pane of glass on the first (second) story. He looked up, only to meet the eyes of… Professor McGonagall. With a weak wave, Harry flew off towards the group, which was now doubly gaping at him.

"Harry, that was amazing! I thought the rememberall was going to get smashed for sure!" Ron said, running up to Harry. "If we weren't first-years, I'd suggest you go try out for Quidditch!" A small group had accumulated around Harry before he could say a thing. The Slytherin, however, were quite angry that they were outdone by a Gryffindor. Madam Hooch arrived some 5 minutes later followed by Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter, you will be going with Professor McGonagall to her office. Also, you need not return for any further flying lessons." Madam Hooch declared, to the obvious delight of the entirety of the Slytherins, who began a raucous round of laughter.

Harry sullenly walked up to Professor McGonagall and followed her. They walked the halls in silent, and, much to Harry's surprise, past her office and up to the Charms Classrooms. When they stopped she called a student out of the class. As soon as the door was shut and they had walked back down to Professor McGonagall's office, she began, "Mr. Wood, I would like to introduce you to your new Seeker."

"What?" both students asked, for entirely different reasons. "I thought I was in trouble for flying when Madam Hooch explicitly told us not to." Harry said, utterly confounded.

"Yes, that was her first thought, although I witnessed your flying skill. You'd make a top-notch seeker." She looked to the other student, who Harry now knew was something Wood. "Mr. Potter here dove about 7 meters (21 feet) straight towards the building and managed to catch a rememberall before it smashed into my window."

"Really?" Wood said, giving Harry an amazed look. "I do think we have found our new Seeker, Professor." He said with a smile. "My name's Oliver. It's an honour to meet you, Harry." he finished, extending a hand.

Harry, deciding to not look this horse in the mouth, shook his hand. "Likewise, Oliver. There is one thing I don't understand, though. If I'm not in trouble, why aren't I continuing flying lessons?" he said, looking to Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter, you just became the youngest Seeker in the last century. There hasn't been a first-year on the team for some amount of years, either. It would be rather ludicrous, I may say so myself, to have you continue to take lessons with your fellow first-years." Looking to Oliver, she continued, "Mr. Wood, you have the rest of the period off to test Harry down on the pitch. I do ask that you not use the actual snitch, however, as I'd like for you to attend the rest of your classes."

"Of course, Professor," Oliver said, already dreaming of the glory of having the youngest seeker in a century on his Quidditch team.

It was only a good 5 minutes later that they were down at the pitch, Oliver had decided that they would not need to wear equipment, as, not only did Harry not have any, but they were just going to do some very basic practice. They arrived at the pitch and were, more so in Oliver's case, surprised to find Aston waiting on the players' bench. "Harry! I knew McGonagall couldn't be mad at that performance I saw. She has a soft spot in her heart for Quidditch."

The boys walked over and jumped on their brooms after exchanging pleasantries. Harry was made to catch a baseball while traveling at increasingly fast speeds. 'If this is basic training, then what is normal training like?', he thought fleetingly as he was now moving at nearly 20 kmh (40mph). They continued on like this for a good 15 minutes until Aston yelled up to them, "I do believe that the bell is about to ring! I'll see you later, Harry! Things to do, and all that!"

Harry had a mix of both relief and sadness as he jumped off his broom. He was sad because he absolutely adored flying, but was relieved, that Aston would not be walking him to his next class, as had been the case many times over the last few weeks. Oliver had said it was a good practice and that they'd fit him on Saturday for his new equipment. Harry quickly made his way to his next class with Ron and Hermione.

He then remembered that he had not given Neville his rememberall back, yet. He swung by the medical wing and was right about to enter when he heard Aston talking with Headmaster Dumbledore, and an obviously frightened Neville. He poked the door slightly open and eavesdropped. "I must insist that you remove the block, professor. In all the cases I've studied about magical blocks they either have one of two effects. Either A, it destroys their magic bit by bit until they become squibs" Harry heard a distressed cry from Neville at this. "or their magic gets so strong that it eventually breaks the block and explodes, possibly killing the wizard in the process." More whimpering from Neville. "Now please remove it before I must go to Professor McGonagall about it."

Dumbledore continued to talk in a calm, almost reassuring voice, "Mr. Kenny, I understand your distress, but there is nothing to be feared about his block. It is simply there to keep him safe."

"Safe from what? Lord Voldemort? We both know that's a load of rubbish. If anything, he's already played his role and you just don't want to clean up the mess properly. I know you put the block on Neville so that Voldemort would see him as a weakling and try to get at Harry because he was stronger. Now, I want you to take the damn thing off before you kill him!" Aston raged.

What happened next, scared the bejeebees out of Harry. Dumbledore spoke in a voice that chilled him to the bone, "Mr. Kenny, I do not know how you know so much about my plans, but I politely ask that you do not interfere with them. They are for the greater good, I assure you. Not to mention the fact that we have a guest." Changing back to his normal self, Dumbledore looked to the door and waved it open, to reveal a still crouching Harry. "How much have you heard, my dear boy?"

"Um…" was all he said, before Aston jumped in between them.

Without missing a beat, Aston said, "You assure me? That's laughable. Your assurances are not well received when all the evidence points to you being a crazed, senile, old, fool. Not only did you try to obliviate me within minutes of meeting me, but now you've obliviated your staff and tried to obliviate a student because he found out about a block YOU put on him!"

"Mr. Kenny, this is all for the greater good. Now, please allow me to obliviate these poor boys of this miserable incident." Dumbledore said, raising his wand ever so slightly.

"Albus, this is why Aberforth is cross with you. You refuse to realize that you can't make decisions for people. You made your decision with Gellert, now let these boys make theirs."

Harry duly noted that if that had been to calm Dumbledore, it had sorely failed. He also idly wondered where Madam Pomfrey was during all of this. With a voice of barely contained rage, Dumbledore spoke, "Mr. Kenny, I do not pretend to know where you got this information, but if it will keep your silence, I will do as you have asked."

Without waiting for Dumbledore to continue, Aston said, "Then I ask that you go cool your heels. I'm not your enemy in this, but I can't let you fail to uphold the oath you made to yourself." Aston stood stock still, keeping himself between Harry and Dumbledore.

Harry was severely worried at what had happened in the last few minutes, but was relieved to hear Dumbledore speak calmly. Releasing a breath, Albus spoke, "Fine, but we shall speak later." With that, Dumbledore left the room, swiftly.

Making sure that Dumbledore was gone, Aston led Harry over to Neville's bed and spoke to them both, "Neville, you can safely ignore everything Professor Dumbledore and I said. I will ensure that the block is removed, but he did tell the truth. It was placed there for the greater good. I will explain when you two are older." Turning his attention to Harry, he continued, "You need to remember exactly what you heard. I will explain when you're older, but" turning his head to address them both, "you both need to keep this incident quiet. Now, Harry will you assist me in reviving our school healer? It seems that the Headmaster knocked her out to keep her from stopping him." He finished, pointing out Madam Pomfrey unconscious in the doorway to her office.

Harry went over and preformed the standard _enervate_ spell to bring her back. She woke with a start. "Wha? Mr. Kenny? Mr. Potter? Where's Headmaster Dumbledore?" she asked, confused as to what exactly happened.

"Madam Pomfrey, I don't know what you mean. Harry and I came in here to check up on Neville. He says that he released a bout of accidental magic due to try and stop the pain. Instead, it ended up knocking you out. I wanted to discuss the matter of the magical block on Neville, however." Aston said.

Madam Pomfrey, to her credit, didn't let this information get to her. She got straight to work as Aston continued. "I understand that the process of removing a block such as this is a challenge, but I'd like to suggest that we only remove 10% of the block at this time. Neville seems to have quite a large block, if his personality and inability to perform magic easily is any indication. If we were to remove the entire block, or too much of it for that matter, all at once it could result in a magical explosion or a mental shut down from such a radical change in psyche."

Harry watched, as Madam Pomfrey glared at Aston. "How is it, Mr. Kenny, that you know so much about magical blocks? From what Professor Dumbledore has told me, you never set foot in magical Britain up until several months ago. I doubt that-"

Aston interrupted her and gave a hearty laugh. "I see that Headmaster Dumbledore has taken it upon himself to let my status in the magical world be known. Yes, Madam Pomfrey, I am a muggle. Your knowledge would be correct that I have never set foot forth in magical Britain before a few months ago. I have been doing some studying on a variety of subjects since then, however. I thought the information might be important, as I have a rare ability, especially amongst muggles. I have a form of mage sight that allows me to see magical auras. This was how I was able to get into the magical world in the first place. Once I found out about the magical world, I thought that I might have simply had some sort of block on me, causing me to be unable to use magic. It turns out that I'm just a very, VERY, odd case in the world. You don't need my life story, however." He then turned to Harry. "I came with Harry here to give Neville his rememberall back. That was when I noticed that Neville's magical aura was… unusual. Which brings me to my next point. I had thought that Harry's aura was unusual simply because he survived the killing curse, but now I believe it might be that he has a block on him, as well."

There was a collective gasp from Neville and Madam Pomfrey. Harry was simply… overloaded. First, he had heard Neville had some sort of Magical block on him. Then he got a taste of Dumbledore's fury, nearly pissing himself in the process. Then to top it all off, he heard he had a magical block on him. His day just seemed to be getting better and better…

It was but a moment or two later that Harry was being swarmed by a near-frantic Madam Pomfrey who did not want to have to explain this in a report. Harry noticed her wand tip glow green after she was done. He heard her mutter as she looked between Harry and Neville. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom", she began regaining some composure, "you are to both stay here for the next few days while the issue is dealt with. Mr. Kenny, while I thank you for pointing this out, I must ask that you keep this quiet. It would not do to have rumors of this going around the school, as you well know."

Harry watched Aston simply laugh. "Madam Pomfrey, we both know that somehow, someway, this story is going to get out. That's just how Hogwarts is. I'd prefer to have the story leak out on our terms, however. So what shall we say happened? How about that Harry, here, got hurt during his training earlier? Neville's already got an ironclad alibi so we don't need to worry about him. Oliver may be a bit sore that his Seeker won't be able to train for a couple days, but he'll be quite content to know that I'll give him 10 galleons for his silence on the matter."

Madam Pomfrey glared at Aston and said, "I will pretend that I did not hear that, Mr. Kenny." She looked at Harry. "Now, Mr. Potter. You will be staying in this bed," indicating the one next to Neville, "for a few days while your body adapts to its increased magical supply. Now, please lay down while I begin work on Mr. Longbottom, here." With that, she turned to her office and was off. Harry, pretty sure he had no other choice, went over and got under the covers.

Aston walked over and sat in a chair between Harry and Neville. He put his hand on Neville's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Neville. The process is quite simple and painless. What's going to happen is that she's going to chisel away at the block with a spell. That's going to feel uncomfortable, and will only be painful if you try to resist or start moving. When she's done with that, she's going to give you a potion that will make you go to sleep so that your body can adjust to the new found power. When you wake up tomorrow, you'll feel… different. Magical blocks don't only restrict your magical ability, but also your mental and physical ability. Albeit, not nearly as much, but it still happens. Suffice to say, you probably won't need that rememberall anymore." With that he patted his shoulder, stood up, and walked into Madam Pomfrey's office.

Harry couldn't hear what was happening, and decided to talk to Neville. "Uh, here's your rememberall back." The pudgy boy was slightly surprised to find it plopped into his lap. "You should have seen Malfoy's face when I caught it."

Neville seemed to come out of his stupor a tad bit at that. "What happened?"

"After you left, Malfoy found it and tried to keep it for himself. Ron, Hermione, and I confronted him. He got scared and jumped on his broom. I chased after him. He threw it towards the castle and I chased after it. I caught it before it smashed. Draco looked furious." Harry told him, getting a grin from Neville.

"I wonder how much of a difference removing the block will make." Neville pondered aloud.

"I don't know. I mean, I can already cast a good amount of charms and spells at sufficient level. If that's me with my power blocked, I have no idea what I'll be like with my power unblocked. You? I suspect that things will become a lot easier, considering that you are having trouble." Harry said, not really thinking. He cringed slightly when he noticed Neville's expression at the criticism. Changing course, Harry plowed on, "What I do know, is that Draco and his ilk won't be able to make fun of you anymore. We know for sure that you can't possibly be bad at magic. Your magic must have been strong enough to be able to have a block on it in the first place, right?" He gave a smile as he tried to cheer the boy up.

Before Neville could say anything, the adults walked back into the room. "Mr. Potter, you will be going first. I ask that you remain still and concentrate on this ball if you feel any discomfort. It is charmed to make you feel pleasant while absorbing any discomfort." Madam Pomfrey said, placing the ball in his hand.

Harry noted the texture of the ball and calmed his mind as Madam Pomfrey began a series of spells. He noted a feeling in his stomach, right behind his navel. It was about five minutes later that he felt a great amount of pain. Clenching his teeth, he focused on the ball in his hand. The change was immediate and relieving. As his muscles relaxed, his mind finally registered the frantic muttering coming from Madam Pomfrey. "No, this isn't right. What is this? It can't be. Is he actually?~" He didn't even understand what he had heard before he blacked out.

* * *

><p>Groaning he woke up to see a bunch of blobs at his bedside. "Look he's awake!" he heard a feminine voice exclaim. He tried to reach over to grab his glasses, but felt them slide onto his ears before he ever got them in his hands. "There you go, Harry." Hermione said.<p>

"Mate, you look horrible." Ron said, blunt as a hammer.

"Ronald!" Hermione said, mocked by an, as always, immature Aston.

"What? You can't honestly say that after all this time he looks perfectly healthy." Ronald defended.

Deciding he didn't want to hear it go on, Harry interrupted, "Just how long has it been?" He began rubbing his temple, trying to alleviate his headache.

"Well… you've been out for just over a week." Hermione said, biting her lip.

"Really? I thought I was only supposed to be out for the night." He said, still trying to blink his fogged up mind clear.

"I'll take over from here." Aston said. "Basically, the block wasn't a normal one. It had been compounded upon. Basically, all the years of the Durselys, your low self-confidence, and the original block mixed together. So when Madam Pomfrey went at it, the block destabilized. She didn't realize that the portions from the Durselys and yourself were there. So imagine, if you will, a room with pillars in it. She started chiseling at the pillars, not understanding just how much they were holding up. So when she took enough of them out, the roof collapsed in on her, causing your body to nearly shut down from the amount of change it had to endure in the space of literally 10 minutes.

By no accounts, did she completely remove the block, but she did remove more than expected. Instead of the safe ten percent, she removed nearly twenty-five. She stopped short by perhaps a tenth of a percent. Now, I want you to sit there and just think for a while. We don't, and can't possibly predict, the changes it will have. I want you to think about your first Chocolate Frogs card and try to remember everything you can about it and the situation."

"Why would~?" Hermione began, but was shushed by Aston.

Harry did as asked, still kind of out of it. In his minds eye, he watched as the folds of the cardboard peeled back. He remembered feeling uncomfortable as the frog jumped into his mouth, nearly choking him. Then he remembered the card. The card! "Aston! Th~" he began.

"Shh, Harry. We're in the infirmary." Aston said, discreetly pointing to Madam Pomfrey.

Harry took the hint. "So why did you pick out that memory?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"Oh, nothing, I just wanted to remind you that you nearly chocked on your first chocolate frog. Harry and Aston both smiled as Hermione and Ron both just looked on, confused. "That reminds me. We need to get a case of butterbeer and throw a party. Miss Granger, here, refused to celebrate her birthday while you were here." Aston said, ruffling said girl's hair, completely ignoring her blush and slight scowl.

"That sounds good." Harry said. He then thought of one complication. Looking over towards said complication who was tending to a student who had a sling on their arm, he asked, "Madam Pomfrey, am I fit to go?"

Affording a small, yet rare, grin, she said, "I do believe that so long as you take it easy on the butterbeer and keep spellcasting to a minimum, then you should be okay. However, I want you to come back for overnight observation. So you have until nine tonight."

With a nod, Harry looked back to the group around his bed. "Aston, you go get the case of butterbeer, since you're the only one who can leave the grounds. Ron, you go get your brothers and see what they can whip up. Hermione, your with me. If removing that much of the block causes unintended side affects, I'd prefer not to be sitting on my butt in the hall waiting for someone to help me." Ron and Aston took off to do their parts, while Hermione just walked with him back to Gryffindor Tower. They were walking through the halls, on their way to the library with their new found information about just who Nicholas Flamel was.

They were passing around a corner when they saw Hagrid carrying a very large slab of meat through a doorway. "Hermione, what type of creature needs that much meat, especially one that you can keep inside?" Harry asked, curious.

"I have no idea, but Dumbledore wouldn't keep anything dangerous in the school, would he?" she asked back.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's guarding whatever Flamel is trying to hide. I say we find out what it is." Harry said, running ahead towards the door. Hermione came running up right behind him as he reached the door. Harry put his hand out and turned the knob, only to encounter the resistance of a lock. "Darnit, locked." He racked his brain for the unlocking charm. He knew that Aston had taught it to them, but he just couldn't remember it.

Luckily, he didn't have to. Hermione pulled out her wand and cast the simple, "Alohomora" charm to set the lock back to the unlocked state. They swept the door open quietly and crept into the deserted wing, making sure to re-lock the door behind them.. They had been relatively fast and could still see Hagrid's hulking figure walking down the hall. They followed after him, staying just far enough behind and to the side so that he didn't hear them.

After a couple of minutes they watched him stop and pull out his set of keys for the grounds. They couldn't see much as he walked in the room calling, "Oi, Fluffy! Goo' ta see yer, boy. Got yer slab, righ' 'ere." He left the door ajar behind him.

Hermione and Harry looked at each other with the same expression of shock. "Fluffy?" they both said at the same time. They looked back as Hagrid came back out, one slab of meat lighter. They hid behind a corner as he passed by back towards the entrance. They walked forward to the door in which Fluffy was behind. Harry went up and tried to open the door, albeit slowly. This time, the knob didn't even move. Hermione tried the Alohomora charm, but the knob was just as stuck as before. Harry thought for a moment before he realized what was wrong. "The key. The lock's charmed to only open if that key is in the hole. That's why Hagrid didn't shut the door. He wouldn't be able to get out, otherwise. Could you make a copy of the key?" he asked Hermione.

She shook her head. "Not without seeing the specific charm on the original key. That would require a level of magic that I can't perform, anyways. So even if we could get our hands on the original for a few minutes, I wouldn't be able to copy it. Not to mention the fact that Dumbledore probably made the charm really complicated. So in short, we need Hagrid's key." She looked down at her mechanical watch. "We need to go, now. Aston and Ron are probably almost ready. We'll have to look up Flamel later." She said, dragging him back towards the door.

As soon as they were back out in the hall, they began making their way to Gryffindor Tower. Harry discerned that it was probably just after a quarter past seven, meaning that he must have awoken just after dinner. They walked up to the Fat Lady and gave the password ("Caput Draconis"). Harry and Hermione were met by a large group of people. Apparently, Fred and George had already been planning a party for him waking up. The resulting cheer came out as a garbled mess.

Suffice to say, Aston and the twins had delivered. Not one, but 3 kegs of Butterbeer, enough sweets to make Hermione's parents faint, and fireworks that were charmed to not set anything on fire. Overall, the party was a smashing success. Towards the end of the party, Harry finally managed to sit down with Ron, Hermione, and Aston in a quiet and secluded corner. Harry told Ron and Aston what they found out. "Damn. I should have known that he would do something like this." Aston said.

Whipping towards him, Hermione asked, "Wait. You knew that Fluffy was back there?"

"Yeah. I know what some of the traps and challenges are, but the bracelet that allows me to get through the wards makes it to where I have to play fair, according to his rules. Basically, even if I knew all of the traps, I'm not allowed to tell you them. However, because he's not playing fair, by adding more challenges, I think I can safely get around it, for now. Now, which do you want to know? I can either tell you who Nicholas Flamel is or what Fluffy is." Aston answered.

Shaking his head, Harry grinned and responded, "Of course you somehow know about it. I have a feeling you know much more than your willing to tell, with or without that bracelet. I'll take this at face value, for now, though." Losing his grin, he turned to Ron and Hermione. "I suppose we should ask about Fluffy. I'd rather know what the obstacle is rather than the goal. What about you guys?"

Ron's brow furrowed in concentration, absorbing everything that had just been said. Hermione, to her credit, kept her mouth shut and waited for Ron to speak first. It was a few minutes later that Ron finally spoke. His words came out slow and deliberate, like he was speaking the thought as it came to him. "It's not so much about knowing what the obstacle is, but more about how to get past it. I'd like to know what we will have to do to get past Fluffy."

Hermione, having come to this conclusion minutes earlier, simply smiled and said, "Good thinking, Ron. So let's hear it, Aston. How do we get past Fluffy?"

Aston said his next sentence with a type of knowing smile. "Well, Hermione, I'm going to need to acquire a violin. I forget, did you bring yours with you?"

Hermione blushed a very interesting shade of red at this statement. Much to Harry's surprise, she managed to speak, with a bit of anger no less. "How did you know I play the violin?" she asked in a tiny, yet forceful, voice, as she looked at her toes.

Aston gave a hearty laugh at her discomfort. "Hermione, it doesn't take a genius to connect the dots. Your an upper middle-class single child who studies with a thirst for knowledge. Geez, how ever did I figure out your parents would think to introduce you to the fine arts with the violin. That's not even to mention the multitude of pictures your father has hung around your house. Ah, but this is all inconsequential." Looking to Harry he said, "Basically, Fluffy will fall asleep to any form of music. So Hermione here will play her violin while you continue into to the next obstacle. Then she'll follow. Sadly, I can't tell you more. I can tell you, however, that none of this will matter if we arrive at that door without the key. So we'll need to get it from Hagrid somehow. For now, though, enjoy the party, guys." With that, he stood up and walked over to talk to Dean and Seamus.

Harry looked back at Hermione, to notice that she was still blushing madly. Deciding that, if nothing else, he was done with all the noise, he asked, "Can we hear you play?"

She looked at him with a mix of emotions; fear, happiness, and a tinge of surprise. She gave a small nod of 'no' and got up and nearly sprinted to the stairs to the girls' dorm. Ron looked at Harry and said, "Wonder what's got her so worked up."

"Don't know, but I think that I need to be getting back to the Hospital Wing. Would you mind walking with me?" Harry asked.

"No problem, mate." With that they made their way through the portrait of the Fat Lady and made their way to the Hospital Wing. They chatted idly about things. When they arrived, Madam Pomfrey was already waiting for him.

She quickly shoo'd out Ron and forced Harry into the bed. She pulled out a piece of notepad and asked him some questions. He answered, feeling the call of the sandman weighing on his mind. It was about thirty minutes later that he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

><p>He awoke the next morning to the shuffling of Madam Pomfrey. She came over and said, "Mr. Potter. If you are feeling okay, you may go to class today. Professor McGonagall requested that you speak with her at your earliest convenience. I do recommend that you go down to breakfast first, however. I could only get so much food in you during your comatose state. You are to eat until your full, even if it's much more than you usually eat." With that, he was hurried out into the hall.<p>

Harry walked down to the Great Hall, arriving there before even the food showed up. He sat down at his usual place, to find Aston doodling on a piece of parchment. From what Harry could see, it was a complex series of symbols. He didn't recognize any of them, but thought they were probably runes. Aston looked up as Harry plopped down. "Oh, hey there, Harry. Just trying to figure out a puzzle a friend once gave me. She really was brilliant."

McGonagall looked at the boy before her, and gave a rare smile at his obvious delight with the broom. "Mr. Potter, while I wish you the best of luck and hope to see the trophy in my office this year, I will not allow you to slack off just because you are on the Quidditch team. If you continue with your current level of academics, I will be pleased. Should your grades start to get worse, I will be forced to take you off the team. Do you understand me?" she said, just as stern as ever.

He nodded and said, "I won't allow this to interfere with my studies, professor. I can't imagine that Hermione would even allow me to, either." He said with a grin.

McGonagall restrained her urge to laugh. She had noticed the girl's constant… well, to be brutally honest, nagging that they do their work. "I don't suppose Miss Granger would. Now, off to class."

Harry's first practice had gone fairly well. He'd seen the snitch and was after it when he got hit by a Bludger. After that he'd lost it and couldn't find it again before practice was over. This had confused him, knowing that matches didn't end until the snitch was caught. He thought practice would end for him when it was caught. To his great relief, there was a charm on the box so that, when Wood pressed a certain rune, all the balls would return to the box. Since then, he'd caught the snitch several times, and was getting better at doing it.

Slowly, but surely, the leaves changed from their healthy green into vibrant oranges and reds. As the the heat and clear summer skies gave way to the cool of autumn, so too did the atmosphere of the school. Students began spending more time inside by the fireside and less under trees beside the lake. That didn't mean that things were calming down, however. It was now Halloween and there was a sort of… anticipation in the air. Murmurings and mischievous glances flowed throughout the day. It was lunchtime, and the trio was walking into the Great Hall to eat and, for Ron at least, to finish up next period's homework.

"So wait, a charm is more about the emotion put behind it? So a hex would work better if I put anger into it?" he asked, reading, at Hermione's insistence, through the textbook.

"Essentially, yes. However, it also depends on intent. Let's say that I were to throw a stinging hex at Harry, and I used the most angry emotion I could summon. If you were to throw a shield in front of Harry using memories of the good times you've had would be stronger than a shield thrown in front of a stranger using those same memories." She said, sitting down and putting food on her plate.

Harry asked, "What type of emotion would you put behind a charm like Windguardium Leviosa?" He grabbed some bacon. It seemed that no matter what time it was, they were still served the same food.

"That's a good question. I've been meaning to ask Professor Flitwick, but I have been pre-occupied trying to find more about Nicholas. We know he did something with Alchemy, but he hasn't done anything recently. I must assume that his work was a while ago." She said, getting cut off by Aston bringing a 7th year over.

"Ah, good to see I caught you three before your next class. Anyway, I wanted to introduce Harry to his cousin, one Nymphadora Tonks." At her scowl, he amended, "who prefers to be addressed by her surname only."

Tonks looked over to Harry and stuck out her hand. "Call me Nymphadora and you'll end up with a pigtail, and I don't mean in your hair."

"Nice to meet you Tonks." Harry said, knowing just what she meant. "Which side of my family, would you be on? I sincerely have no clue."

"Well, despite what this harebrain seems to believe, I'm not your cousin, I don't think." She said, giving Aston a punch in the arm.

With a comical, and over exaggerated, flinch, he defended himself, "Actually, you are related, albeit distantly. Tonks mother was a Black. So her great-grandmother, I believe, was the sister of your great-grandmother on your father's side, Harry. So, in the end, your distant cousins. That was close enough for me."

With a shrug, Harry said, "She can't possibly be worse than my other cousin." Looking at her, he continued. "So what year are you in?"

"Actually, I graduated last year," she started, taking a seat. "but I needed to come back for extra potions training. I'm training to be an auror, but the Ministry's trainer had an overly large amount of trainees this year. So the Ministry made a deal with Dumbledore to have some of us to train with Professor Snape."

Aston chimed in like a giddy schoolboy, "Ooh! Show them your metamorphmagus ability!" At her look of 'how did YOU know?', he answered her silent question. "I'm overly informed, get used to it."

Hermione watched in fascination as Tonks shrugged and started to make her hair change colors. She then started morphing her face into a pig snout. Ron nearly choked as he started laughing mid swallow. Harry smiled and gave a chuckle as her pig snout morphed into a duck bill. After a few more changes she said to them, "It was nice meeting you cuz, but I really have to be going. I'll see you around." With a wave, she walked out of the Great Hall. Aston gave a few goodbyes before walking out himself. The trio soon followed and went to class.

* * *

><p>It was after fifth period that the day went bad. Ron and Hermione came out of class bickering about Ron's study habits. He blamed her for not helping him and she blamed him for not doing anything to actually do the work. Harry had decided to just stay out of it. He was just a tiny bit wiser than Ron in the fact that he realized what was going on. He may not know much about girls, but even he knew that sometimes you just don't mess with girls. Ron, however, lived in a house full of boys and had never learned.<p>

Harry idly wondered when Ron would realize his fatal mistake. That's when he was brought back to Earth by Ron yelling, "Well, fine! Maybe you should just go hide out in the library you good for nothing bookworm!" Harry was at a loss for words. They had called each other names and yelled, yes. This was a whole other level to call her "good-for-nothing".

He turned on his friends, only to find that Hermione was running down the hall. Harry ignored Ron and ran after her. He couldn't catch up with her, but managed to follow her until she hid in a bathroom on the second floor. Panting, he knocked on the door and said, "Hermione, I figure its one of your days. If you need me to get you something, please tell me."

The only answer he got was a sniffly, "Go away! I just want to be alone…" Deciding that there wasn't really much he could do, Harry walked on to his next class. He'd just have to hope that she didn't get in too much trouble.

Things went relatively well after that. Ron tried to apologize, but Harry wouldn't accept it, stating that, "Ron, it's not me that you told was useless. You need to apologize to Hermione." Harry was extremely angry at this point. Ron had done something stupid and now he couldn't talk with either of his friends. He made a point of ignoring Ron as he sat down for the Halloween feast.

He sat with Neville and Aston. After a few questions as to what was going on, Aston simply shook his head and said, "God, how stupid is he? I love the guy to death, but he can be really stupid sometimes." He then laughed, but neither Neville nor Harry could discern why.

After Aston was done, Harry asked Neville about his magical problems. "Well, it's no problem for me to do things now. The problem now is that I have to overcharge things for them to work. I don't know what it is, but Professor Flitwick suggested it might be my wand. I don't know why he'd think that, though."

Aston started talking before Harry even opened his mouth. "I believe I know what the problem is, Neville. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is your father's wand, is it not?" At Neville's shaky nod, Aston continued. "There are two problems with that. The first is that wands choose their wizard and then tend to not work for anyone else. The second problem is that Bellatrix" Harry watched as all the blood in Neville's face disappeared. "is the one who beat your father. That, by the magic in which wands work, means that she is the master of the wand. While it may not work for her because her magic is not compatible, it's not going to work very well for you because your not it's master, even if you're compatible. That's why your having so many problems with the thing. You really just need to go to Ollivander's and find the wand that chooses you." He said, acting as if it was perfectly normal dinner conversation.

Several questions formed on Neville's lips at the information Aston knew. "Ho? Wha? Why?"

Taking pity on the boy, Aston responded to the unanswered questions. "Neville, you'll find I know a lot about people in here. I also know things about people not attending Hogwarts, yet. Such as, your gran likes to where a hat with a dead bird on top of it, Luna Lovegood gave Ron a kiss when they were younger," Neville almost laughed*, but Harry, not knowing who that was, didn't think it all too important and went back to eating. "Harry, here lived in a cupboard for the first 11 years of his life," this made Harry look up in surprise. Suffice to say he was angry that Aston advertised that, felt betrayed that Aston even would, then felt relief that no one but Neville heard. "McGonagall has a bottle of Whiskey in her desk, and I know that Quirrel is about to come running through those doors any moment and give a big announcement." He ended, looking down at his mechanical watch.

Harry was about to ask how he knew that when, as predicted, Professor Quirrel came dashing into the Great Hall. Aston had stood up as soon as he had. As Quirrel stopped right in front of the staff table, Aston walked up behind him. Quirrel squeaked out, "There's a Troll in the school." After a gasp from those who could hear, he said, "Just thought you should know." With that he fainted, right into the waiting arms of Aston.

At the looks of 'how did you know?', Aston simply stated, "We really should be more concerned about the troll at this point, no?"

McGonagall took charge of the situation and declared, "Prefects, please take the students back to their respective dorms and stay there until your head of house comes to get you."

Through all the commotion as this order was being followed, Harry barely saw that Aston said something to Snape, which caused the potions master to be surprised for a moment. Deciding he'd find out what it was later, Harry made his way out of the Great Hall with Neville. It wasn't until he passed through the doors that he realized something. "Hermione!" he said, getting Neville's attention. "Neville, she's still down in the restroom. We have to go warn her!" At that, he sprinted away to the nearest staircase.

Neville stood for a moment then followed after Harry. He was in Gryffindor, and he was not going to abandon a fellow Gryffindor. They sped up to the second floor** (Third for us Americans). Harry was silently pleading that the troll wasn't on this floor. They ran through the halls until they came into view of the door to the bathroom she was in. Unfortunately, the troll WAS right there. 'Please keep walking. Please keep walking.' Harry pleaded, in his head.

Apparently, luck was not on Harry's side. The troll used its club to knock a hole in the wall into the restroom. Visibly worried, Harry looked at Neville and said, "Come on, we have to help her." They ran in after the troll. At the threshold they heard screaming and saw the massive girth of the goliath bring the club over its head to swing at the stalls. It was twice as tall as any man and had to weigh at least a ton. Its skin was gray and it had two arms hanging down like a gorilla. Harry thought fast. Deciding not to take any chances, he said to Neville, "Use _diffindo_ on it." He then whipped out his wand and began slashing mid-air, sending a purple burst of light from his wand. Neville's, on the other hand, caused a shield to pop up, but it failed after a moment or two. A gouge formed in the behemoth's back as the purple stream hit it.

It roared out in pain, and turned around to face the threat. Harry kept throwing more at it as it tried to move forward. It took Neville a moment to get the charm to work the right way and actually slice the beast. The troll kept moving forward and started to swing its club at them. They jumped out of the way and continued to throw the charm at it. It followed them out into the hall where the each went a different direction so that the other could throw the charm at its back. It followed after Neville, much to his displeasure.

Neville, in his haste to get away from the swing of the club, tripped. Harry watched as the thing was about to bring its club down on him and sped forward to stop it. As it leaned back to build up momentum for its swing, Harry jumped on its arm and began casting the charm on its arm. It howled out, once more, in pain, and brought the annoyance up to its face. This was a very bad move on the part of the troll. Harry preformed the charm one more time, right in the face of the beast, leaving a great deep gash in its forehead. As he saw its eyes roll back, he jumped off of it and preformed a _spongify_ on the floor to keep himself from breaking anything when he landed. He turned back as quickly as he could to see the behemoth fall backwards, away from Neville. The resounding thud was heard for quite a bit a ways around.

Panting, he got up and helped Neville up, who had, apparently, sprained his ankle. They made their way over to the restroom where a stunned Hemrione was standing in the doorway with her mouth agape. Her face was still red from crying all day, but there didn't seem to be any tears on her face, at the moment. "Uh, Hermione, would you mind helping? Neville is really starting to feel heavy." Harry panted out.

This brought her out of her state of shock, as she ran over to help support Neville. They sat down against the wall to catch their breath. It was a few minutes later that a group of professors came rushing into the hall. Professor McGonagall was the first to speak. "What happened here?" she asked of the 3 students, her voice stern but concerned.

"Hermione was in the restroom when we got the warning at dinner. Neville and I came to warn her and get her to safety. The troll was busting into the restroom when we arrived. It was about to crush the stalls and probably injure Hermione when Neville and I started throwing the _diffindo_ charm at it. We led it out of the restroom and it followed Neville as we split up. Neville tripped when avoiding one of its swings. Before it tried to smash him, I jumped on its arm. It brought me up to its face where I applied the charm directly to its forehead. Suffice to say, it is no longer among the living." He said, astounding the professors who were looking at the dead creature. "Um, Madam Pomfrey, could you heal Neville's ankle? He seems to have sprained it when he tripped."

Said healer walked over and applied a quick healing spell to his ankle, mending it quickly. Professor McGonagall seemed to be divided on whether she should award them a hundred points for their bravery and cunning or give detention for risking their lives. Deciding that she'd leave it up to Albus, she said, "You three, come with me. We are going to go to the Headmaster's office." They each got up and began following her when she fell to the ground.

"Professor!" Hermione said, running forward, only to fall herself.

Harry laughed. "I'm sorry, professor, I forgot to remove the _spongify_. I put that there to keep myself form hurting myself when I jumped off the troll."

With a huff, McGonagall rose and removed the cushioning charm. "No harm done, Mr. Potter. Now, if we may continue?" They followed her without further incident to the gargoyle statue. She whispered the password in the gargoyle's ear and it moved out of the way, revealing a spiral staircase. Taking the lead, she bid them follow. They stepped on a stone as it went spiraling up towards the headmaster's office. They entered the office at the headmaster's invitation. "Headmaster, these two students, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter, defeated the troll to save Hermione Granger, here." Said girl blushed a deep red at the fact she had to be saved. "I was unsure as to what action I should have taken about the situation and decided to bring them to you for punishment or reward as you see fit." McGonagall said, maintaining the stern tone of her voice.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrow at Neville before asking in a grandfatherly voice. "Mr. Longbottom, would you mind recounting the tale, or would you prefer Mr. Potter to?" Neville recounted the story and Dumbledore looked to Harry, with slight concern. "Mr. Potter, why did you feel it necessary to kill the troll?" he asked.

"Sir, it was either I kill it or take the chance of it not only killing me, Hermione and Neville, but possibly other students as well. I understand if I am expelled or something for murder, but I do not regret protecting people." He said, faltering only slightly under the gaze of the old man.

Dumbledore looked over to Hermione, "And why is it that you were in restroom and not at the feast, Miss Granger?"

She blushed at his question, but answered him, nonetheless. "Um, it's my, um, day." She said quietly, looking at her hands with a bright red face.

A look of confusion swept over Dumbledore's face for just a moment before he realized what she meant. He quickly apologized, "I am sorry. I did not mean to put you on the spot like that Miss Granger. Please, in the future, if you do not wish to answer a question, just inform me. Besides that, Madam Pomfrey has some potions that help with that issue. For future reference, you need to go to the hospital wing." With that, he turned back to look at them all. "I do believe that Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter should be awarded 75 points each for their heroics, this night. Now, if you do not mind, I would like to speak to Harry alone, for a moment." As they were walking out, Hermione gave Harry a concerned look, but left the room. As soon as he was sure they were gone, Dumbledore looked to Harry. "Harry, are you okay? I don't know what you're feeling right now, but you can talk to me."

Harry thought for a moment. He wasn't sure what he felt. "I don't know, Headmaster. I feel kinda bad that I killed it, but I'm happier that I kept Hermione and Neville safe. I don't want to make a habit of killing things, but if someone attacks my friends, I will protect them, no matter the cost."

Dumbledore nodded and said, "Mr. Potter, if you need to talk to someone do not hesitate to come to me." With a look at the clock, he continued, "Now, it is far past curfew. Please follow Professor McGonagall back to Gryffindor Tower. I bid you a goodnight." Harry stood up and went over to the door, opened it, and went out. He walked down the spiral stairs and followed as McGonagall led them back to the tower. He walked inside the tower and just walked up to the room, ignoring everyone in the common room, and flopped down on the bed. He was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: Anybody find the error in chapter 4 yet? I've noticed it, but am going to leave it until somebody else does (My Beta really should have caught it). Also, should you be having a problem understanding what Hagrid is saying, please inform me. I am trying to keep it readable, but I'm not entirely sure.<strong>

***Augusta Longbottom likes to keep tabs on people of interest. I can see her inviting Xeno over, at which point Neville would have met Luna.**

****My reasoning here is that the argument is after their charms class (second(third) floor). So why would she have ran down to the dungeons instead of a much closer restroom? Also, for those that are in the know, yes I changed the schedule for the day. Even though canonically they had Charms first period, I have it stated that they did for their fifth.**

*****Also, I am not replacing Ron with Neville.**

**Beyond that, I have learned a valuable lesson about writing. 'Set yourself time restrictions, but don't stress it.' The reason I say this is because when I first started writing this story, I stressed weekly releases to the point where I didn't want to write. I then tried to do it too lackadaisically and ended up being unable to write because I grew lazy. That is why I feel that you need some time restrictions, but don't stress if you're a couple days late.**

**I have a question, does anyone have a floor plan of Hogwarts? I really had no clue if the restricted section would be between the Hospital wing and the library, but the library is on the right floor so I just went with it.**

**Also, a cool announcement with a story. I spent hours the other night looking for a Harry Potter RPG, only to find there wasn't one (that is not including forum base role-plays). I have a grasp of programming and therefore decided that I'd try my hand. I am looking for people to help, as I don't want to work on one project (story or game) more than the other. So if you are a decent artist (I'm not going to be picky), a good music maker (whether made using a program or actual recordings), or someone to help me with writing the game. Sadly, I can't pay for services rendered. Not yet at least. Send me a pm if you're interested!**

**Finally, R&R, and I hope you'll read the next chapter, too! Thanks to all my readers! Happy Christmahanakwanzika!**


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